On Tap: Day 8 of 2026 World Junior Championship

The 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is being held in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, resumes with the quarterfinals on Friday. The semifinals are Sunday and the championship and third-place game are Monday.

All games on NHL Network in U.S., TSN in Canada

Sweden vs. Latvia (2 p.m. ET) -- Sweden finished its undefeated run through Group A with a 6-3 win against the United States on Wednesday. Lucas Pettersson (Anaheim Ducks), who scored two goals against the U.S., leads Sweden with four goals. But Sweden got significant offensive contributions from across the board; seven players have at least five points, topped by Jack Berglund (Philadelphia Flyers), their captain, with six points (two goals, four assists). Sweden will need that versatile attack to continue against a Latvia team that at its best has shown the ability to lock down the defensive zone, block shots and frustrate the opposition. Coach Artis Abols said his team, which finished fourth in Group B, needs to play similar to how it did in a 2-1 overtime loss to Canada on Saturday. "I need them to be mentally like they were in the game against Canada, and then compete," he said. "Don't give easy chances." This will be a rematch of the 2025 quarterfinals, which Sweden won 3-2.

Czechia vs. Switzerland (4:30 p.m. ET) -- Czechia defeated Latvia 4-2 on Wednesday to finish second in Group B, but coach Patrik Augusta believes his team will need a far better effort if it wants to have success moving forward. "I didn't like the way we played," he said. "We told the players that we have to be ready from the beginning, exactly the same as against the Finns (2-1 overtime win Monday)." Defenseman Adam Jiricek (St. Louis Blues), who scored the winning goal against Finland, has scored in three straight games. But it's another defenseman who is tied for the team lead in scoring, in Tomas Galvas (2026 draft eligible), who has seven points (two goals, five assists). Forward Vojtech Cihar (Los Angeles Kings) also has seven points (two goals, five assists). They'll need offense from different spots against a Switzerland team that finished third in Group A when it held on for a 3-2 win against Slovakia on Wednesday. Switzerland's best players have been its two goalies, who allowed eight goals in four preliminary-round games. Christian Kirsch (San Jose Sharks) had a .950 save percentage in his two starts, while Elijah Neuenschwander (Anaheim Ducks), who made 20 saves against Slovakia, had a .902 save percentage in his two games.

United States vs. Finland (6 p.m. ET) -- U.S. coach Bob Motzko said Wednesday that there's a "good chance" defenseman Cole Hutson (Washington Capitals) is able to play. Hutson, who became the first defenseman to outright lead the World Juniors in scoring when he led the 2025 WJC with 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in seven games, has missed the past two games after being hit in the back of the head by a puck during a 2-1 win against Switzerland on Saturday. His return would boost an offense that has been led by Will Zellers (Boston Bruins), who is tied for the tournament lead with five goals, and is tied for fifth with seven points. The U.S., which finished second in Group A, also has gotten good contributions from forwards Brodie Ziemer (Buffalo Sabres), who has six points (one goal, five assists) and James Hagens (Boston Bruins), who has five points (two goals, three assists). The next step in the drive for a third straight gold medal is Finland, which finished third in Group B after losing 7-4 to Canada on Wednesday. Forward Julius Miettinen (Seattle Kraken) said his team allowed itself to get stretched out by Canada, and those gaps led to defensive-zone breakdowns. Some of that could be fixed if defenseman and team captain Aron Kiviharju (Minnesota Wild) is able to play after missing the game Wednesday because of an illness. This will be a rematch of the gold-medal game at the 2025 WJC, which the U.S. won 4-3 in overtime.

Canada vs. Slovakia, (8:30 p.m. ET) -- Canada went undefeated in Group B, in part because of an offense that has generated 16 goals in its past two games. They've been led by the top line of Michael Hage (Montreal Canadiens), Gavin McKenna (2026 Draft eligible) and Brady Martin (Nashville Predators); Hage had the primary assist on Martin's two goals Wednesday. McKenna had an assist Wednesday and is tied for the tournament lead with eight points (three goals, five assists). But Canada also has gotten significant contributions from the line of Cole Beaudoin (Utah Mammoth), Sam O'Reilly (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Caleb Desnoyers (Utah Mammoth). Coach Dale Hunter has used them as a checking line, but they contributed offensively against Finland, with Beaudoin finishing with two goals and an assist, and O'Reilly with a goal and two assists. "We just play heavy and hard," Beaudoin said. "We play defense first and then we get our chances on the offense. We're just waiting for our bounces and we got our bounces tonight." After losing in the quarterfinals the past two World Juniors, they'll need those bounces continuing in their favor against Slovakia, which finished fourth in Group A. Forward Tomas Chrenko (2026 draft eligible) is tied for the tournament lead in goals (five) and points (eight).