OTTAWA – In one of the most stunning results in World Junior Championship history, Latvia defeated Canada 3-2 after an eight-round shootout. Eriks Mateiko (WSH) was the only player to score a goal in the shootout after Latvia came back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits in the third period to stun the tournament hosts.

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Latvia goalie Linards Feldbergs was named his team’s player of the game after stopping a whopping 54 shots in regulation and overtime before turning aside all eight Canadian shooters in the shootout. 

The Latvian players stood on their blue line after the game and screamed their national anthem after a truly stunning performance that left the home crowd mystified in Canadian Tire Centre.

LATVIA BEATS CANADA IN THE SHOOTOUT 😱

Eriks Mateiko scores the game winner!#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/oIVP2ddA89

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 28, 2024

This was only the fifth time Canada had played Latvia, but had never lost. In the four previous meetings, Canada had outscored Latvia 41-4. 

Canada opened the scoring in the game in the second period, with Jett Luchanko (PHI) scoring on a shorthanded breakaway. 

Latvia did a decent enough job of controlling the middle of the ice and not allowing Canada’s roster with 11 first-round draft picks and three surefire first-rounders in the next two NHL Drafts. Anything that did get through was easily turned aside by Feldbergs.

The Latvians hung around long enough to get some looks on the power play. With 6:42 remaining in regulation, Mateiko scored on the power play to make it 1-1. 

Cal Ritchie (COL) answered back for Canada with 5:38 remaining to make it 2-1 and seemingly seal Latvia’s fate. A late hooking penalty by Ethan Gauthier (TBL), however, breathed life into the visitors as they got one last chance on the power play.

Peteris Bulans scored with 2:29 remaining in regulation, touching off a frenzy by his teammates with the game tied.

In overtime, both teams traded chances with each getting good looks at the net. Feldbergs and Canadian goalie Jack Ivankovic were excellent in the extra period and turned aside chance after chance.

In the shootout, Canada sent over some of the most explosive offensive players on paper in the tournament, but Feldbergs turned eight attempts aside, setting the stage for Mateiko to give his country its biggest win in their World Junior history. 

Mateiko calmly skated in before depositing a hard shot off the post and in to set off maroon-clad hysterics on the ice.

Latvia has the tournament’s youngest team with an average age of 18.04 years old. They have four 16-year-olds on their roster and seemed to be looking more towards the future with how they put their team together. Instead, they’ve now created a chance to make the quarterfinals and maybe do better than that.

Their reward for beating Canada, however, is an afternoon faceoff with first-place defending-champion Team USA in less than 24 hours.

Regardless of the result in that game, Latvia clinched an iconic moment in World Junior history on a frigid Friday night in Ottawa.

More to come soon.

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