The national team of Latvia reached the quarter-finals only for the third time in the last 13 world ice hockey championships, but for the first time in history they managed to advance to the semi-finals.
In Riga, the Latvians, supported by their fans, defeated the Swedish national team 3:1 (1:0, 0:1, 2:0) and for the first time in history reached the semi-finals of the World Championship, where they will face the Canadian national team.
Dans Locmelis led Latvians (12:56) and kept this lead until the middle of the second half, when Swede Timothy Liljegren scored (29:41).
At the end of the second half, Latvian Martins Dzierkals was penalized with 5+20 penalty minutes.
The Latvians took the lead once again at the beginning of the third quarter, when Miks Indrasis (45:55) brilliantly misled the opponent’s defender in a quick attack and scored the second Latvian goal – 2:1.
Latvians took a huge step towards victory 6 minutes before the game. 14 sec., when Janis Jaks (53:46) used the numerical advantage and scored the third goal of the Latvian national team.
The only time the Latvians beat the Swedes in the World Cup was in 2009, and since then they have suffered seven defeats in a row. Including friendlies and other tournaments, Latvians last beat Swedes in 2017. in a friendly match with a score of 4:3.
The Swedes replaced the goalkeeper with the sixth player on the field 2 minutes before the start. 55 sec., but it was of no use and the Latvians celebrated a historic victory.
In the next quarter-final, Canadians defeated last year’s champion Finland 4:1 (1:0, 1:0, 2:1).
From last year’s four – Finland (gold), Canada (silver), the Czech Republic (bronze) and the USA (fourth place), the teams of Canada and the USA reached this year’s semi-finals.
Tags: superbly playing Latvians defeated Sweden reached semifinals World Cup time history
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