Tre Kronor’s WC adventure is over.
The home nation Latvia, cheered on by a loud crowd in the Riga Arena, proved too strong for the Swedes, who eventually fell 3-1.
– Sweden is too unskilled and has a really bad final period, says Mikael Renberg, expert at SVT.
Already in the first period, the Latvians showed that they would not let themselves go down so easily, and after 20 minutes of play they were in the driver’s seat after a goal by Dans Locmelis.
In the second act, Sweden took over more and more, winning the shot statistics with 13-1 and equalizing with a distinctive wrist shot by Timothy Liljegren.
The closing period was initially dominated by blue and yellow, but barely five minutes in came the cold shower from which Sweden never recovered. After first tunneling a Swedish defender, Miks Indrasis shot 2-1 straight into the roof of the net behind Lars Johansson.
With just over six minutes left, just after Sweden overcame a numerical deficit, Latvia extended its lead when a puck found its way under Lars Johansson in the Swedish cage.
The Swedish forcing never led to any really hot situations, and the little that was created was managed by the Latvian goalkeeper with Arturs Silovs with that honor.
Latvia’s victory means they are through to the semi-finals of the Hockey World Cup – for the first time in the country’s history.