Team Canada beat Team Latvia 2-1 in overtime, but it didn’t come without a lot of drama. There was a disqualification, a goal within the final two minutes of the game for Latvia to tie it, and to settle the score, we needed more than 60 minutes; it was a great contest and an entertaining watch.
The Referees Had a Major Outcome in the Game
The referees were the main driving factor in the outcome of this game. Latvia’s Martin Klaucans was given a five-minute penalty and a game misconduct for allegedly making contact with Zayne Parekh’s head. While Klaucans caught Parekh at an odd angle and the IIHF rules are strict as can be, he made no contact with Parekh’s head or neck area whatsoever. How they reviewed and upheld that call is beyond understanding.
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Canada then scored not even a minute into the power play, with Cole Reschny cutting into the slot and sniping it past Nils Maurins. Latvia was then on the back foot because of a wrongfully called five-minute major. Latvia killed off the rest of the penalty. Later in the period, Cole Beaudoin actually made contact with Bruno Osmanis’ head, and nothing was called; he got lucky.
Ben Danford caught Kristians Uthanis up high with a stick after he swung it around in a circle. Uthanis was bloodied, and it was deemed to be a double minor. If anything, that warranted the five-minute major more than the actual major that was given to Klaucans — Danford swinging his stick the way he did was dangerous.
Latvia Played Their Hearts Out
The Latvians should walk away from the game with their heads held high. The major penalty was just a tough break, and there’s nothing they can do about it. Latvia beat Canada in a shootout last year and nearly beat them again this year, showing loads of improvement. They have a mindset that they’re a ragtag team with something to prove, but also nothing to lose, and it shows.
Latvia was a step ahead in the first half of the first period. Even when Canada scored early into the major, Latvia bounced back strong and held them off for the final four minutes. With two minutes to go, Rudolfs Berzkalns potted a goal late, tying up the game at one.
Maurins was incredible in net, too, and is one of the main reasons the game was so close. He stopped 36 of 38 shots in a game where Latvia was outshot 27 to 38. No matter what happened, Maurins and his team kept fighting throughout the game until the buzzer sounded.
Canada Raised the Aggression and Improved Defensively
Last game against Czechia, Canada was pushed around and straight up bullied the whole night. It’s a reoccurring theme of the last couple of tournaments. Canada needed to get mean and say enough is enough of getting pushed around, and they did against Latvia. Hits were thrown a lot more and no prisoners were taken throughout the entire game.
In terms of the defence, it was a night and day difference between the five-goal debacle against Czechia. The pairing of Cam Reid and Parekh played much better, and even Ethan MacKenzie stepped up to his bigger role nicely after being moved up into the top-four alongside Harrison Brunicke.
Jack Ivankovic was phenomenal in between the pipes, stopping 26 of 27 shots. The team looked much more comfortable with him in net than Carter George, who was the starter against Czechia. It’ll be interesting to see who gets the start against Denmark on Monday; Ivankovic may get the start as he’s the more reliable goalie right now.
