IIHF – Sweden beats Latvia
“Throughout the tournament, we grew as a team,” said Latvian captain Rodrigo Abols. “What we lacked in competence we made up for with hard work and commitment. We try to play with our hearts and I think we showed that in the tournament. We were down 2-0 against Great Britain and had a tough match against Austria, but it was where we showed our character. ”
For the most part, Latvia used a defensive strategy in attacking on the wings. While Silovs held the fort at one end, they got one or two chances – the best perhaps came halfway in the first period when Abols was set on a one-timer in the gap but was denied directly by Ullmark.
“I think we can be happy with the performance but disappointed with the result,” said Abols. “We had our chances but we did not score and against a team like Sweden you have to use every chance you can get.”
Latvia got a powerplay opportunity in the first period and another in the second, but did not come up with much.
“I thought we had a good start to the match,” said Swedish captain Joakim Nordström. “We talked before, and really emphasized that our start must be good and I thought we came out with a bang. We did not capitalize but I thought we played with good energy, we were physical and we spent a lot of time with the puck in the end. . ”
Sweden got their first powerplay chance when Arturs Kulda was sent off for a trip, and the Swedes scored the match’s only goal with 5:06 left of the second period. Lucas Wallmark passed over to Nylander, and with Rasmus Asplund as the screen in front, Nylander went in and tore a wrist shot to the far side that Silovs did not see until it was too late.
In the first minute of the third period, Nylander almost scored another power-play goal, removed the puck from Martin Dzierkals and went into Silovs. This time, however, the Latvian goalkeeper had a clear view and got a blocker on.
After needing two goals in the third period, Latvia came out of its defensive shell and pressed hard, but the Swedish defense was stable and allowed little in the way of high-quality goal chances. With about seven minutes left to play, Rihards Bukarts sent a seemingly harmless shot from the high gap that sprayed out of Ullmark’s glove and resulted in a goal spin, but the puck stayed out.
As Silovs still needed two goals in the last two minutes, Silovs was lifted for a sixth striker. Nordström missed a bid on the empty net in the deadly seconds, but it did not matter. The puck was held deep in the Latvian zone when the match and Latvia’s tournament ended.
When the Latvian players left the ice, they gave a final greeting to the appreciative fans to support them en masse throughout the tournament.
“The atmosphere was great,” said Zile. “Last year (in Riga) we only had fans at one match but this year many Latvians came here and it’s pretty good to play with these fans. Their support was just fantastic.”
“Our main goal after the group game was to qualify for the quarterfinals and to put ourselves in a good position,” said Nordström. “It’s a tough time now. Our expectations of ourselves are always to fight for medals. Last year did not turn out the way we wanted but here we are now and we have placed ourselves in a good place but there is a lot of work left to do.”