Michal Pradel backstops Slovakia to victory over Latvia; Takeaways from pre-tournament action

BEMIDJI — Slovakia had to wait a little longer to get its first pre-tournament game under its belt, and the start was less than ideal.

Just five days ahead of the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championships in the Twin Cities, Slovakia took on Latvia in the second of three exhibition games at the Sanford Center. The two teams are sharing the rink with Czechia for a pre-tournament camp before the show gets underway.

After watching Czechia pull out a 3-2 overtime triumph over Latvia on Friday night, Slovakia got a turn on Sunday, but fell behind 1-0 near the midway point in the first period.

After Michal Lischinsky took a double-minor penalty for high-sticking, Markuss Sieradzkis tipped in Alberts Šmits’ shot from the point, putting the Latvians ahead 1-0.

For goaltender Michal Pradel, a third-round pick by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2025 NHL Draft (No. 75), the slow start was expected.

“Latvia played really good from the beginning,” Pradel said. “They scored a goal after a good screen on a deflection, I think. After that, we started doing the small things right.”

Coupled with Slovakia’s improved effort in the details of Sunday’s game, Pradel was also at his best, making 24 saves in a 3-1 win.

After surrendering the game’s first goal, Pradel made a one-time save on a shot from Sieradzkis five minutes later. In the second period, he made a pair of saves to rob Reinis Auzinš out of a goal, then made a breakaway save on Roberts Naudiņš late in the frame.

“I felt comfortable the whole game,” Pradel said. “I know my strong side. I try to keep them up the whole game. I’m happy for the guys and for myself tonight.”

Slovakia wasn’t as reliant on Pradel in the third period. After Tobias Pitka leveled the score early in the second period, Tomas Chrenko gave Slovakia its first lead with 18:04 left in regulation. Pradel saw only seven shots in the final frame, thanks in part to a pair of standout defensive recoveries.

With two and a half minutes left in regulation, Lischinsky made a diving play to break up Darels Uļjanski’s one-time pass on a 2-on-1. It followed an impressive backcheck from Luka Radivojevic to halt a Latvian breakaway moments earlier.

“It was a really nice job from the guys backchecking and clearing the space in front of the net,” Pradel said. “The small things make the big difference like that.”

Slovakia head coach Peter Fruhauf is well aware of how crucial Pradel’s play is to his team’s success when the tournament begins next week. Sunday’s contest showed he can help Slovakia weather the sluggish stretches if they arise again.

“It’s amazing how calm he can be in really hard situations,” Fruhauf said. “He’s a big boy who can move in the crease. That’s what he showed us today. He was a rock for us.”

Tobias Tomik added an empty-net goal with 39 seconds left to seal the win. Latvia completed its exhibition games in Bemidji and will take on Canada at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 27, at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis when tournament play commences.

Slovakia has one more pre-tournament game at 7 p.m. on Monday in Bemidji before making the trip to Grand Casino Arena for a noon game against Sweden on Dec. 26.

Here are the Pioneer’s remaining takeaways from Slovakia’s win over Latvia:

Early on, it was evident that Latvia had played a pre-tournament game already and Slovakia hadn’t.

Latvia outshot Slovakia 11-6 in the opening 20 minutes. The ice tilted back to a more level playing surface in the middle frame before the Slovaks imposed their will to close out regulation.

“The first period, it’s what we expected,” Fruhauf said. “The Latvians played their first game a few days ago. Their legs were moving. We were trying to get some rhythm, which we found in the second period. From that point on, we were a better team.

“You have back-to-back games in Worlds, so you want to control the pace, especially on the forecheck. I think you could see the achievement on that in the third. I was happy that we scored from a good forecheck.”

Chrenko buried a behind-the-net pass from Andreas Straka less than two minutes into the third period for the game-winning goal. Pitka, a forward for Northern Michigan, followed his rebound to tie the game in the opening minutes of the second period.

Both goals came at the net front, which was encouraging to see for Fruhauf. It also left Latvia head coach Artis Abols frustrated once the game concluded.

“They had more fresh legs, but it’s an excuse,” Abols said. “We were soft and sloppy, and the compete effort was too low to win the hockey game. … The biggest point I didn’t like (was) the way we compete. That’s the most important thing.”

Šmits made a heck of a first impression in Friday’s pre-tournament game against Czechia. He ripped home a power-play goal on a one-time shot from the point, quarterbacking Latvia’s power play to a 1-for-4 showing.

Two days later, he was at it again. Šmits took a shot from a similar spot that was tipped by Sieradzkis for the game’s first goal 8:17 into the first period. Šmits had a goal and an assist on the power play in Latvia’s exhibition games at the Sanford Center.

In total, Latvia went 2-for-8 on the man-advantage between both games.

“When (you) have a couple of guys who can pass and can shoot, there’s a good chance you can score,” Abols said.

Not only was Latvia opportunistic on the man-advantage, it also successfully killed off all eight of its penalties against Slovakia and Czechia.

Still, Abols was satisfied at best.

“The penalty kill was OK,” Abols said. “But once again, for the second night — it was the same in the first game against the Czechs — we killed the penalty but we didn’t clear the puck, and they get the goal.”

After Mikus Vecvanags stopped 27 shots against Czechia on Friday, presumed backup goaltender Nils Roberts Mauriņš made 22 saves in the loss against Slovakia.

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