Joy in Belarus

Geoff Platt and Mikhail Grabovski scored within 33 seconds in the ninth minute of the game and after that the home team could control the game.

The Latvians gained contact at 33:49 when Arturs Kulda scored on a 2-man advantage.

Latvia's Kaspars Daugavins tied it 36 seconds before the end - everybody thought. But the goal was disallowed because the referees thought that Gints Meija had blocked the Belarusian goalie Kevin Lalande.

"I saw Kaspars lining up to shoot and then my vision was completely blurred out, I didn't get a chance to see the replay yet but a trust the ref made the right call", says the goalie to IIHF.

The Latvian coach Ted Nolan was not happy with the call: "I couldn't tell even with the slow motion replay. I told my players I was proud of the way they played and they deserved a better fate," he said.

With one second to go of the game Sergei Kostitsyn scored 3-1 in the empty net after Latvia had pulled Edgars Masalskis from the net.

Latvia will have to beat Switzerland tomorrow to join Belarus in the quarter-finals.

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