Home fan support propels Latvia to the Olympic Games

An expected closely-fought contest between Latvia and France in the final game of the Olympic Games Qualification group E resulted in Latvian dominance after an early French goal on the Arena Riga ice. In the morning game, Slovenia was able to shut down an offensive flare-up from the Ukrainian national team on their way to a third-placed finish in the group.

Latvia defeats France 5-2 in a thrilling encounter

The Latvian crowd was silenced just twenty one seconds into the game with an automatic qualification to the Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games on the line, as Ingolstadt forward Charles Bertrand managed to beat Kristers Gudlevskis on the rush. France was determined not to let up after the goal, and the game continued with back and forth play until Latvian forward Eduards Tralmaks managed to tie the game in the sixth minute on a breakaway opportunity after French defenseman Pierre Crinon failed to intercept a pass by Kristians Rubins.

With the home support revitalized and the game tied at one a piece, Latvia kept up their offense. French defenseman Enzo Guebey lost footing in the neutral zone, holding the puck in his hands, resulting in a Latvian powerplay that was capitalized on by Roberts Bukarts. The first period ended with Latvia up by one goal after two periods played, the score – 2-1.

Latvia returned to the game with energy and determination, and it did not take long for Latvia to blow the game wide open. Rodrigo Abols managed to get past two French defensemen and put the puck in Quentin Papillon’s net, and soon after a shot from medium distance by Martins Dzierkals managed to find its way past the French goalie for the fourth time this game. Latvia would prove that nuances matter in the game of hockey late in the second period, however, as a penalty kill for Latvia managed to turn into another goal. Rodrigo Abols applied slight pressure to a French defenseman in their defensive zone, which resulted in Florian Chakiachvili shooting the puck high over the boards, resulting in a two minute penalty for delay of game, neutralizing the French powerplay. Latvian defenseman Kristians Rubins would soon join the Latvian rush on the 4-on-4 play, beating Papillon for the fifth time in the game from in close.

The score would stay 5-1 after two periods of play. France seemed determined to come back in the third period, with multiple chances to get one back, but the Latvian defense stood strong. Stephane Da Costa would make it 5-2 with just over 3 minutes left to play, but both sides seemed to understand that the home team was going to win today, resulting in a much slower game compared to before. Latvia put up 36 shots on goal compared to France’s 19.

Latvia earnt an automatic qualification to the Winter Olympic Games for the seventh time in history, while France now awaits the IIHF decision on the Russia ban. If the ban is kept up, France will likely qualify to the Olympic Games as a result of being the best performing 2nd-ranked team out of every group.

Latvia’s Kristers Gudlevskis was named the best goalie of the tournament, while Uvis Janis Balinskis picked up the best defenseman award. The best forward award was handed to Alexandre Texier, who picked up a hat-trick against Slovenia, while the MVP of the tournament was the 36-year-old Latvian captain Kaspars Daugavins, who will likely play at the Olympics for the last time in his career before retirement.

Slovenia escapes from Ukraine in a 6-2 victory

The Ukrainian national team almost managed to pull off an upset against Slovenia in a game for third place in the group. Slovenia started off well in “Jan Day”, with Jan Urbas scoring five minutes into the game and Jan Drozg adding one more goal to the Slovenian lead in the second half of the first period to make it 2-0 Slovenia. Despite Ukraine putting up 9 shots compared to Slovenia’s 8 in the first period, Slovenia was able to bring the two goal lead into the second period.

The first part of the second event would remain rather eventless, until Jan Drozg got his second goal of the night, resulting in a 3-0 lead for Slovenia. Just over 4 minutes until the end of the period, Ukrainian forward Vitali Lialka returned hopes of a come back with a goal on the powerplay, and 58 seconds later Pylyp Pangelov-Yuldashev would bring Ukraine to within one on another powerplay opportunity. The score remained 3-2 in favor of Slovenia after two periods, now raising many questions about the end result of the game.

Jan Urbas would quickly strike in the third period, however, to return a two goal lead for Slovenia. Half a minute later, Ukraine’s second goal scorer Pangelov-Yuldashev would get ejected from the game for an illegal check to the head, putting Ukraine’s hopes of coming back in jeopardy. While Ukraine was able to successfully neutralize the five minute penalty with no allowed goals, the momentum shift resulted in Ziga Jeglic and Anze Kuralt picking up two more goals for Slovenia soon after, setting the game’s final result in stone – a resounding 6-2 victory for Slovenia. Forward Jan Urbas was named the best player for Slovenia, while Stanislav Sadovikov was his counterpart from the Ukrainian team.

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