STOCKHOLM – The Latvians stayed in the hunt for a quarter-final berth with a convincing 5-0 victory over Italy at Globen Arena on Tuesday. Latvia now has six points in the Stockholm group, while Italy has just two from beating Denmark in overtime.
Click here for a video with post-game comments."It wasn't the same effort as two days ago [against Denmark], and it was disappointing not bringing the momentum into tonight's game," said Italy's Vincent Rocco.
Ronalds Kenins, Oskars Bartulis, and Miks Indrasis all chipped in a goal and an assist apiece for Latvia, and Gints Meija and Krisjanis Redlihs added singles. Indrasis, a 21-year-old World Championship rookie, is off to a hot start with five points in three games.
Captain Janis Sprukts felt there was still room for improvement: "We didn't play our best game. We played more bad than good even though the result showed different. On balance, I thought we could have played better."
Latvian goalie Edgars Masalskis recorded his fifth career World Championship shutout as his teammates outshot Italy 35-23.
Halfway through the opening period, Latvia got a great chance to open the scoring on a 2-on-1 rush where Kenins fed Armands Berzins from the right side boards, but Berzins couldn’t get the puck past Italian netminder Daniel Bellissimo’s outstretched right pad.
Latvia drew first blood at 18:36 when Kenins took a slapshot from the left faceoff circle that deflected off the skate of Italian defenceman Trevor Johnson and trickled inside the goalie’s right post.
At 4:14 of the second period, the Latvians went up 2-0 when Gints Meija, standing at the edge of the crease, tipped in a Bartulis feed from the blue line. The Latvian fans in the lower bowls erupted with chants of “Sarauj!” and increased their drum-beating efficiency.
The Italians struggled to mount a counterattack, and ran into penalty trouble in the second. Latvia made it 3-0 on the man advantage with 2:06 left in the middle frame, as Bartulis’s perfectly placed rising slapshot beat Bellissimo high to the blocker side.
In the third period, it took just 43 seconds for Indrasis to kill off any hope of an Italian comeback, accepting a pass at the Italian blueline, racing in on goal and scoring stick side with a forehand move.
"It feels good to score," Indrasis said. "I'm fortunate to have such good teammates and getting opportunities to help the team."
"[Indrasis] works hard and what you see here is a result of that hard work," said Sprukts.
The fourth goal prompted Italy to make a goaltending change, inserting third-time World Championship participant Thomas Tragust for the first time this tournament. But it was too late to make a difference.
Latvia promptly made it 5-0 on the power play with a Krisjanis Redlihs blast at 2:31.
The result gives Latvia a one-win edge in the all-time head-to-head series between these nations. Prior to this game, Italy and Latvia had faced each other seven times at the IIHF World Championship dating back to 1933, recording three wins, a tie, and three losses apiece.
Next up, Italy faces Norway on Wednesday, and Latvia takes on the Czechs on Thursday.
"We have to forget about this game and regroup," said Rocco. "We have a big game tomorrow against Norway."
LUCAS AYKROYD
