Eriks Mateiko scored the lone goal of the shootout in Latvia’s upset over Canada in the shootout Friday night.
Latvia upset Canada in one of the greatest upsets in World Junior Championship history. A 3-2 shootout victory was secured by the Latvians over Canada on Canadian turf and it gives them a lot of momentum heading into their game against the USA.
In their history against Team Canada, Latvia had been outscored 41-4 with four losses. In the tournaments history, Latvia has never finished higher than sixth place. This includes a 10-0 victory for Canada 12 months ago.
Talking about history, Latvia has secured their third-ever win in the World Junior Championship tournament.
Latvian netminder Linards Feldbergs made 54 saves on 56 shots between regulation and overtime and added eight more in the shootout in the upset.
Canada lost one of their players Matthew Schaefer as he crashed the net and struck his left arm/shoulder on the net and did not return to the game after leaving in the first period.
The game started in a lopsided shots on goal for Canada, but scoreless between both teams. It had to have struck a sense of belief in the Latvians who were the underdogs in this game but showed no quit regardless of what the score was.
The Latvians tied up the game 1-1 on a power play, but their lead wouldn’t last long as Calum Ritchie fired a one-timer top shelf from Easton Cowan’s nice cross-ice pass.
Lots of media attention focused on this game being a massive upset from the 2-1 score itself, never mind Latvia taking it into a shootout and winning.
With three minutes left to play, Canada’s Ethan Gauthier took a hooking penalty which Latvian Peteris Bulans tied the game.
A 2-2 hockey game in overtime against Canada was uncharted territory for Latvia, but a late penalty in overtime to Canada gave a spark to Latvia.
Five rounds weren’t enough for both teams, and Latvian’s Feldbergs stayed sharp through all eight rounds of the shootout.
Finally, the moment came, on his second chance with the puck on his stick, Eriks Mateiko skated towards Jack Ivankovic and rifled the shot low to win the game for Latvia.
Not a single goal during the game was scored at even strength.
Latvia faces the USA tomorrow at 2:30 pm CST while Canada isn’t back in action until Sunday, Dec. 29th against Germany.
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