Latvia won again in overtime, France fouled at the last second and Daugavins scored the extra point

In their next game at the World Championship, Latvia took their game to overtime. France’s defence committed a gross error a few seconds before the end of the set time and Latvian captain Kaspars Daugavins again decided the extra time, this time Latvia won 3:2.

Although on paper the home team Latvia was more active in the 1st period, France took the lead. Defenseman Oskars Blatna was given a five-minute penalty in the 16th minute along with a personal foul and France took advantage of the power play thanks to Stephan Da Costa.

Blatna unnecessarily poked one of the opponents with the end of his stick, the referees studied the situation for a long time and finally decided to take a higher penalty. The situation was even worse for Latvia because it was shorthanded, so Blatna offered the opponent a 5-on-3 power play.

In the 2nd period, the game evened out, with the lead boosted by France giving the Latvian defence unexpected problems. Latvia once again showed that its defense is not one of the strongest defenses in the championship.

Less than 3 minutes into the 3rd period, Latvia evened the score. After a quick transition Martins Dzierkals passed the puck to Ralfs Freibergs, who didn’t shoot but found a wide open Rodrigo Abols in front of the net.

the 28-year-old forward scored his second goal of the tournament to tie the game at 1-1. In the middle of the final period, Latvia also got their 5-minute power play after Hugo Gallet’s interference in the head and neck area.

Daugavins started the action from his own zone, hitting the bar, and Roberts Bukarts was able to finish into the empty net. Latvia turned the score around.

With three minutes left in the 3rd period, Pierre-Édouard Bellemare got to the rebounded puck after a faceoff and uncompromisingly sent the puck into the net. The French star from Seattle tied the game at 2:2 and sent the game into overtime.

Overtime

The overtime was about to end when one of the defensemen lost the puck five seconds before the end of the period in a fight with Daugavins, who was rushing the goalie all of a sudden. The captain of the Latvian national team didn’t mess with anything and with a luxurious bluff he beat the French goalie and even managed to send the puck into the net in time before the final siren.

Latvia thus gained 2 valuable points in the Group B table. The same goes for France, for whom a point is even more valuable. The Gallic cockerel team is now within one point of Poland, with whom it will most likely be tied for relegation.

Source: World Cup 2024