It would surely be an interesting game as Latvia took on Germany on Monday afternoon in the World Junior Championship. Latvia entered the game, having stunned Team Canada in a shootout before losing to the Americans. Germany was hungry for a win, as they had been defeated by all of their previous opponents. Their hunger was evident when they took an early lead, with Simon Seidl scoring just 19 seconds after the first puck drop. The Germans were buzzing as they doubled their advantage on the power play, with Edwin Tropmann scoring from the point just six seconds after his teammate won the faceoff.
Their dominant lead didn’t last long, though, because Eriks Mateiko scored a much-needed goal for Latvia less than a minute later. It was a powerful one-timer from the left faceoff circle that whistled past Linus Vieillard, Germany’s goaltender. Mateiko’s goal motivated the Latvians to kick it into high gear and continue eating into the German lead. At 46:55, Bruno Osmanis converted off a feed from Peteris Bulans to make it 2-2–a crucial goal to Latvia’s ultimate victory.
With the quarterfinals on the line, Germany was desperate and willing to make bold moves to stay in the game and, ultimately, move on in the tournament. With just over three minutes left in the game, the Germans pulled their goalie in a power play situation, making it six-on-four. While a two-man advantage seems like a surefire way to take back the lead, the move ultimately backfired. Olivers Murnieks scored a shorthanded goal after winning the faceoff and firing it nearly the length of the ice into the empty net. It seemed the wind had been taken out of Germany’s sails…for all of 20 seconds. Germany’s David Lewandowski fired it into the back of the net from the right circle. The game was tied 3-3 with less than three minutes to go, and the teams found themselves in overtime.
Eriks Mateiko once again made himself the hero of the game, just as he did in Latvia’s defeat of Canada. After springing into action on a breakaway, Mateiko attempted to curl around one of Germany’s defenders but temporarily lost control of the puck. Luckily, he was able to quickly regain possession and fired a wrister into the goal. The 4-3 win for Latvia solidified the team’s spot in the quarterfinals and marked their fourth victory ever in tournament history.
While Germany’s tournament play has concluded, Latvia will play Finland on the 31st before beginning the quarterfinals on January 2nd.
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