In front of a wild crowd at the Riga Arena, Latvia reached the semi-finals of the World Hockey Championship by upsetting Sweden 3-1 on Thursday.
Thanks to this shock victory, the Latvians will have two chances to get their hands on the first medal in their history at this annual classic. However, they will have another colossal challenge to face on Saturday, as they will face the Canadian formation.
Latvia mainly triumphed in the match of the day thanks to the brilliance of their young goalkeeper Arturs Silovs. The Vancouver Canucks prospect, who had been loaned to the Trois-Rivières Lions for 10 games in 2021-2022, frustrated the Swedes 40 times.
Silovs notably defended his fortress during the five opposing numerical superiority situations. Late in the second half, Martins Dzierkals picked up a match penalty for kicking the stick after the whistle, but Sweden ran into a wall.
Propelled by the boisterous Latvian crowd, the hosts took the lead through Dans Locmelis in the first period. The 19-year-old center, a fourth-round pick of the Boston Bruins, jumped on a return pitch to beat Lars Johansson.
Away from the podium since 2018, the Swedes had not said their last word and dominated the second engagement 13 to 1 in the penalty shootout column. Toronto Maple Leafs guard Timothy Liljegren finally leveled the game by debunking Silovs with a laser in the top corner.
Author of three assists in the game, Rihards Bukarts left the disc to Miks Indrasis at the start of the zone in the third period. The latter caused a commotion in the Riga Arena by serving striker Par Lindholm a cup of coffee before returning the lead to his team.
Janis Jaks then delivered the killing blow to the visitors when his shot from the point escaped Johansson.
Regardless of the outcome of the next duels, the Latvians wrote an important chapter in their history by defeating Sweden. Their best finish at the IIHF Worlds was seventh.