Canada, Latvia head to overtime at World Juniors
Published
Canada and Latvia are headed to overtime tied 2-2 in their Group A matchup at the World Junior Championship.
Canada held a 1-0 lead for much of the second and third periods before Eriks Mateiko scored on the power play to tie the game with just over five minutes remaining in regulation.
Calum Ritchie quickly re-gained the lead for Canada on the power play as he fired a slap shot over the shoulder of goaltender Linards Feldbergs for the go-ahead marker.
Latvia once again tied the game minutes later on another power play. With Ethan Gauthier in the box, Peteris Bulans fired a slap shot from the point that found the back of the net to even the score for the second time.
After a scoreless first period, Jett Lunchanko opened the scoring early in the second, stealing the puck at the blue line and going in alone on Feldbergs before sliding it past the Latvian goaltender to break the scoreless tie.
Latvia evened the score late in the third period. With Andrew Gibson serving a minor penalty for elbowing, Mateiko one-timed a pass from Bruno Osmanis past Canadian goaltender Jack Ivankovic to even the score at 1-1.
Canadian defenceman Matthew Schaefer exited the game early in the first period with what appeared to be a shoulder injury.
On a power play four minutes into the contest, Schaefer skated into the Latvian zone and took a shot on goaltender Linards Feldbergs before running shoulder-first into the outside post. He slid hard into the endboards and stayed down for some time before heading straight to the dressing room on his own.
Jack Ivankovic stopped 19 of 21 shots while Feldbergs has a strong performance for Latvia, stopping 45 of 47 shots.
Canada went 1-for-4 on the power play, while Latvia went 2-for-6 with the man advantage.