Latvia beat the Czech Republic in overtime 4–3 on Monday in Riga. The win was Latvia’s first home tournament.
Finnish coach Kari Jalonen piloted by the Czech Republic suffered a surprise defeat at the World Hockey Championships. The Czech Republic lost to the host country Latvia in the B group match in Riga on Monday.
Latvia decided the match in overtime. Scored the team’s 4–3 winning goal Oskars Batna.
Latvia was close to victory several times also in regular time. The team led the match 2–1 and 3–2, but the Czech Republic always rose to the level.
Anyway, the match went under the command of the hosts, as Latvia took the shots 35–25.
Oskars Cibulskis, Martins Dzierkals and Richards Bukarts scored Latvia’s goals in regular time. They succeeded from the Czech Republic David Nemecek, Dominik Kubalik and Michal Kempny.
The victory was the first for the host country Latvia in the World Cup tournament. The team lost to Canada and Slovakia at the weekend.
The two points obtained from the overtime win put Latvia in sixth place in Group B.
The Czech Republic got one point from the overtime loss. The Czech Republic has seven points, which is enough for second place in the group behind Canada.
On Monday, Canada beat Slovakia 2–1 after a game-winning goal.