Authors of a surprise victory in overtime against Canada three days ago, the Latvians won again on Monday, 4-3 in overtime, against Germany.
They thus secured their place in the quarter-finals of the World Juniors, excluding Germany (0-0-0-4) from the picture by finishing in last place in Group A for the second consecutive year. They dominated 6-2 last year, also on December 30.
The hero of the match in the eighth round of the shootout against the maple leaf, Eriks Mateiko, has once again decided. The 19-year-old forward and captain of the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL carried the puck from one end of the ice to the other, and after missing his initial two-on-one fake, he recovered the puck to beat Linus Vieillard with a close shot in the top with 1:37 left.
Absolutely needing the 2 points in regulation time in the face of a 2-2 tie, the Germans had no other choice but to withdraw their goalkeeper at the end of the match.
Latvia (2-0-2-0) reacted by scoring into an empty net thanks to Olivers Murnieks.
Germany kept their goalkeeper on the bench and the gamble paid off as David Lewandowski brought the tie back to 3-3 to keep their hopes alive, but desperately needed another goal before the clock ran out, in vain. From there, the overtime outcome no longer mattered.
Bruno Osmanis got the other goal for Latvia, which overcame a 2-0 deficit.
After his 54 save performance against Canada, but then manhandled by the United States, Linards Feldbergs made 36 today. In addition to Lewandowski, Simon Seidl (after 19 seconds of play) and Edwin Tropmann also beat the 6’1 goalkeeper.
Germany will have to play a relegation match against Switzerland or Kazakhstan on January 2.
