France dominates against Ukraine, Latvia takes advantage of undisciplined Slovenes – Group E Day 1 Recap

The first day of the Olympic Games qualification final round group tournament held in Riga, Latvia, started off with the French team facing off against the Ukrainians, while the home team showcased themselves against Slovenia. France managed to survive an early Ukrainian onslaught and take the win against Ukraine with a score of 7-2, while Latvia defeated the rowdy and undisciplined Slovenian team with a score of 4-2.

Ukraine starts off strong, but France holds on and takes a 7-2 win

Ukraine looked to strike early in the game, with multiple great opportunities to score starting from the first whistle. It would get even more difficult for the French side, as penalties in the fourth and fifth minute from Justin Addamo and Hugo Gallet would result in a 5-on-3 powerplay opportunity for Ukraine. Quentin Papillon and the French defense would stand strong, however, as the French defenseman Florian Chakiachvili would be the first to score in the game, beating the Ukrainian Bogdan Dyachenko with a scruffy shot from distance. Stephane Da Costa would tack another goal on the French tally late in the first period, leading to a 2-0 score before the intermission.

France would not look back after this, however, as the second period was all France. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare would score to make it 3-0, before Sacha Treille and Pierrick Dube made it 4-0 and 5-0 respectively.

Ukrainian resistance would return in the third period, with forward Vitali Lialka scoring on the powerplay to cut the French lead down to 4 goals. Ukrainian hopes of getting back in the game would not last for long, as Jordann Perret would return the five goal lead to France just a minute later. Charles Bertrand would freeze the French tally at seven goals, while Olexander Peresunko scored shorthanded to give Ukraine their second and final goal of the game.

Charles Bertrand was named the French best player of the game, while Vitali Lialka was named the Ukrainian best player.

Final Score: France 7 – 2 Ukraine
Shots on goal: France 34 – 27 Ukraine

Latvian powerplay capitalizes on abundant Slovenian penalties, leading to a 4-2 victory

Latvia showed how much discipline matters in a tightly-knit contest against the Slovenian national team. The Slovenian disciplinary woes started just 30 seconds into the game, with forward Jan Urbas taking an inexplicable tripping penalty in the Latvian defensive zone. The following powerplay would lead to Latvia’s first goal of the game, with a perfectly-placed shot from defenseman Uvis Balinskis beating the veteran goalie Gasper Kroselj, making it 1-0. The lead would last for just 46 seconds, however, as the Rok Ticar would tie the game with an excellent shot from distance that managed to beat Kristers Gudlevskis. The game was tied 1-1 after just 2 minutes had been played. The rest of the first period remained mostly eventless, with the exception of Rudolfs Balcers bringing back the Latvian lead on the powerplay, making it 2-1 before the end of the first period.

Latvia would continue their offense in the second period, with forward Roberts Bukarts scoring the only even-strength goal of the evening for Latvia, making it 3-1 just five minutes into the period. Nearly ten minutes later, Rok Maver would score to cut the Latvian lead in half, making it 3-2, after a blocked shot by Balinskis that ended up back on Maver’s stick. Jan Urbas would take another penalty near the end of the second period that forward Rodrigo Abols capitalized on just five seconds into the powerplay, now making it 4-2.

The score would remain unchanged for the rest of the game, with Latvia taking a commanding 4-2 victory in the first game. Slovenia ultimately took 9 penalties in the game, with 5 of those penalties being in the Latvian defensive zone, and Latvia scored on three of the opportunities. This will certainly be the biggest talking point for the Slovenian head coach Edo Terglav, as the game might have turned out very differently if not for these penalties.
Kaspars Daugavins, who picked up 3 assists in the game, was named the best player for team Latvia, while Rok Ticar was named the player of the game for Slovenia.

Final score: Latvia 4 – 2 Slovenia
Shots on goal: Latvia 54 – 22 Slovenia

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