The final game of the second day of action at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship was an absolute whirlwind as Canada took on Latvia Friday evening.
The Canadians were the favourites to take the win, but Latvia’s goalie was remarkable and stopped 55 shots (not including eight saves in the shootout) en route to a 3-2 victory.
It was a historic win for Latvia as it was the first time they had defeated Canada at the World Juniors.
Canada broke the scoreless draw early in the second period after Jett Luchanko intercepted the puck in the neutral zone and got past Linards Feldbergs for the shorthanded score.
The Canadians held on to the 1-0 lead until late in the third period when they gave up a power play score to Latvia.
With the game tied, Latvia committed a penalty and Canada took advantage. Calum Ritchie put the Canadians ahead with less than six minutes to play.
Calum Ritchie with a bullet gives back @hockeycanada the lead.🇨🇦🎯 #WorldJuniors #LATCAN @Avalanche pic.twitter.com/kTGZ8X5VaB
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) December 28, 2024
As the game neared the end, Ethan Gauthier got called for a hooking penalty and gave Latvia a power play with three minutes to play.
The Latvians stunned Canada and evened the score to force overtime.
Latvia tied it again! Peteris Bulans with PP snipe.🇱🇻💥#WorldJuniors #LATCAN @lhf_lv pic.twitter.com/JAbfqX6sxV
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) December 28, 2024
Canada controlled the majority of the five-minute overtime frame, but nothing got past Feldbergs.
Both teams then went to a shootout, and the goalies continued to shine. Through eight rounds, no one managed to score.
Eriks Mateiko then came up for a second attempt and got past 17-year-old Jack Ivankovic to complete the upset.
History has been made for Team Latvia! 🇱🇻#WorldJuniors #IIHF @lhf_lv pic.twitter.com/1zLlNW3EFb
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) December 28, 2024
Ivankovic became the first 17-year-old to start in net for Canada at the World Juniors since 1987. He made 24 saves on 26 shots in regulation time.
“(The Latvians) blocked a lot of shots and the shots they did not block, their goaltender stopped most of them,” said Canada head coach Dave Cameron.
“We spent most of the game in (the Latvian) zone, but we were not able to generate enough offence. This is a game that could have gone our way nine times out of (10) if we could replay it, so it is not as much about what we did not do. We have to give full credit to Latvia.”
Canada’s next match will be against Germany on Sunday at 4:30 pm PST.
There are two games on Saturday. Kazakhstan is taking on Czechia at 10 am and Latvia is facing the US at 12:30 pm.
