photo: Andre Ringuette/IIHF
Canada surrendered the first goal on the first Latvian shot, but made up for that brief lapse by piling on the offence this afternoon and whipping Latvia to the tune of 7-1 at the Avicci Arena in Stockholm. The win moves Canada to 2-0 while Latvia falls to 1-1.
Travis Konecny had two goals and an assist and Sidney Crosby added three assists.
Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury got the start for Canada, and the 40-year-old became the oldest goalie to play for his country. He stopped 16 of 17 shots and picked up his first win in a Canadian sweater since 3 January 2004, a 7-1 semi-finals win against the Czech Republic at the World Junior Championship.
"Time flies," he enthused. "It's crazy. But I'm lucky to be able to put the jersey on and represent my country. Every time you play you want to win; you want to do well. You want to help the team. I haven't played a game in a while. It wasn't the start I wanted either, but after that things got better."
"It's a tough game," said Latvian captain Kaspars Daugavins. "Canada's pretty good. They made us pay for all the little mistakes we made. Every inaccurate pash turned into an odd-man rush. With the players they have, it's only a matter of time before they punish you. Obviously, the Worlds is a long tournament and we still have our job to do, but there's lots to learn."
Both teams have a day off before playing on Tuesday. Canada faces France while Latvia takes on Slovenia.
The Latvians jumped into a 1-0 lead at 7:05 of the opening period. Eduards Tralmaks took a pass from Dans Locmelis as he crossed the blue line, and as Tralmaks moved across the centre of the ice he ripped a bullet shot under the glove of Fleury.
That sent the pro-Latvian crowd ballistic, and the drummers drummed with greater fervour as the screamers screamed with renewed energy. But the goal only served to wake up Canada, which spent most of the rest of the period in the Latvian end and created chances in spades.
Two and a half minutes after Tralmaks's goal, captain Crosby got the favourites going. He made a thrilling backhand saucer pass half the width of the ice right on the tape of Travis Sanheim's stick, just as he was crossing the blue line. Sanheim looked up, saw Konecny moving towards the net, and fired a perfect slap-pass to him which Konecny redirected.
Just 61 seconds later, Crosby’s Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia neighbour, Nathan MacKinnon, went to work. Buzzing all around, he missed one good chance but then converted a Bo Horvat pass in front, reversing two goals from yesterday when he was the passer and Horvat the scorer.
Just like that, the 1-0 deficit was an impressive 2-1 Canada lead, and they had plenty of good chances to increase it as the period progressed. Gustavs Grigals came up big in the Latvian goal, and 2-1 was how the period ended.
In the second, Latvia had a couple of fantastic chances in a period otherwise dominated by Canada from start to finish. Crosby started the play that led to the third goal, getting the puck back to Brandon Montour, who imitated Sanheim’s slap-pass, this time to Kent Johnson. Johnson held the puck for a second until Grigals committed, and then slid the disc into the open cage.
Fleury was called into action soon after. He made a giveaway behind his own goal, but then bolted back to his crease to deny Rudolfs Balcers with a sensational save. "Flower" then snapped the glove out to deny Locmelis, and then Canada went back on the attack with relentless purpose.
Kent Johnson took advantage of a turnover and ripped a shot over the glove of Grigals at 11:10, and then with 23.9 seconds remaining Konecky intercepted another pass and wired a shot past the beleaguered goalie to make it 5-1.
Canada's 18-year-old whiz kid Macklin Celebrini added to the tally at 5:09 of the third when his long-range wrist shot found the short side. Later in the period, Barrett Hayton scored another after video review. His shot went in and out of the net so quickly the penalty timekeepers had to alert the referees.
Canada carries on with a gold medal in mind, and who knows when Fleury will get his next start. In the meantime, he can enjoy watching the skill in front of him. "They're great," he said of his teammates. "How they pick up pucks in the air, how they can block shots but also make great offensive plays. It's a lot of fun to watch. They were awesome all night long."
Daugavins and the Latvians, meanwhile, can reflect on a wonderful experience and get back to the task of winning games and trying to qualify for the quarter-finals. Today's loss wasn't pretty, but in the big picture there is optimism.
"It's an amazing experience to play them, especially for the younger guys," he observed. "It's the biggest stage to showcase yourself, to adjust to the speed. If you have a dream and a chance to play in the NHL, this is the level of hockey you have to play. You need time to adjust to this speed. I think you can learn more from these games than some tough win against a weaker team. This is great for hockey. When these guys show up to the World Championship, the best players in the world, it's awesome to play against them."
Travis Konecny had two goals and an assist and Sidney Crosby added three assists.
Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury got the start for Canada, and the 40-year-old became the oldest goalie to play for his country. He stopped 16 of 17 shots and picked up his first win in a Canadian sweater since 3 January 2004, a 7-1 semi-finals win against the Czech Republic at the World Junior Championship.
"Time flies," he enthused. "It's crazy. But I'm lucky to be able to put the jersey on and represent my country. Every time you play you want to win; you want to do well. You want to help the team. I haven't played a game in a while. It wasn't the start I wanted either, but after that things got better."
"It's a tough game," said Latvian captain Kaspars Daugavins. "Canada's pretty good. They made us pay for all the little mistakes we made. Every inaccurate pash turned into an odd-man rush. With the players they have, it's only a matter of time before they punish you. Obviously, the Worlds is a long tournament and we still have our job to do, but there's lots to learn."
Both teams have a day off before playing on Tuesday. Canada faces France while Latvia takes on Slovenia.
The Latvians jumped into a 1-0 lead at 7:05 of the opening period. Eduards Tralmaks took a pass from Dans Locmelis as he crossed the blue line, and as Tralmaks moved across the centre of the ice he ripped a bullet shot under the glove of Fleury.
That sent the pro-Latvian crowd ballistic, and the drummers drummed with greater fervour as the screamers screamed with renewed energy. But the goal only served to wake up Canada, which spent most of the rest of the period in the Latvian end and created chances in spades.
Two and a half minutes after Tralmaks's goal, captain Crosby got the favourites going. He made a thrilling backhand saucer pass half the width of the ice right on the tape of Travis Sanheim's stick, just as he was crossing the blue line. Sanheim looked up, saw Konecny moving towards the net, and fired a perfect slap-pass to him which Konecny redirected.
Just 61 seconds later, Crosby’s Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia neighbour, Nathan MacKinnon, went to work. Buzzing all around, he missed one good chance but then converted a Bo Horvat pass in front, reversing two goals from yesterday when he was the passer and Horvat the scorer.
Just like that, the 1-0 deficit was an impressive 2-1 Canada lead, and they had plenty of good chances to increase it as the period progressed. Gustavs Grigals came up big in the Latvian goal, and 2-1 was how the period ended.
In the second, Latvia had a couple of fantastic chances in a period otherwise dominated by Canada from start to finish. Crosby started the play that led to the third goal, getting the puck back to Brandon Montour, who imitated Sanheim’s slap-pass, this time to Kent Johnson. Johnson held the puck for a second until Grigals committed, and then slid the disc into the open cage.
Fleury was called into action soon after. He made a giveaway behind his own goal, but then bolted back to his crease to deny Rudolfs Balcers with a sensational save. "Flower" then snapped the glove out to deny Locmelis, and then Canada went back on the attack with relentless purpose.
Kent Johnson took advantage of a turnover and ripped a shot over the glove of Grigals at 11:10, and then with 23.9 seconds remaining Konecky intercepted another pass and wired a shot past the beleaguered goalie to make it 5-1.
Canada's 18-year-old whiz kid Macklin Celebrini added to the tally at 5:09 of the third when his long-range wrist shot found the short side. Later in the period, Barrett Hayton scored another after video review. His shot went in and out of the net so quickly the penalty timekeepers had to alert the referees.
Canada carries on with a gold medal in mind, and who knows when Fleury will get his next start. In the meantime, he can enjoy watching the skill in front of him. "They're great," he said of his teammates. "How they pick up pucks in the air, how they can block shots but also make great offensive plays. It's a lot of fun to watch. They were awesome all night long."
Daugavins and the Latvians, meanwhile, can reflect on a wonderful experience and get back to the task of winning games and trying to qualify for the quarter-finals. Today's loss wasn't pretty, but in the big picture there is optimism.
"It's an amazing experience to play them, especially for the younger guys," he observed. "It's the biggest stage to showcase yourself, to adjust to the speed. If you have a dream and a chance to play in the NHL, this is the level of hockey you have to play. You need time to adjust to this speed. I think you can learn more from these games than some tough win against a weaker team. This is great for hockey. When these guys show up to the World Championship, the best players in the world, it's awesome to play against them."
Latvia vs Canada - 2025 IIHF WM
OF