Latvia has finished seventh in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship after a 4-2 quarterfinal loss May 7 against Canada.

A scoreless first period may have suggested the two teams were evenly matched, but the Canadians got more agressive in the second period and took advantage of power plays to overpower the Latvians. The game was played in the PostFinance Arena in Bern, Switzerland.

Latvian goalkeeper Edgars Masaļskis held steady against the Canadians through the first period, even though they tried 16 times to get the puck into the net, according to a game summary posted on the IIHF’s Web site, www.iihf.com. The Latvian offense only got off eight shots on the Canadian goal.

Canada turned up the pressure during the second period, taking 22 shots on goal compared to Latvia’s four. At 6 minutes, 37 seconds into the period, Canada’s Dany Heatley scored with help from Derek Roy and Shea Weber. At 14:03, Dan Hamhuis made it 2-0 on a power play. He was assisted by Steve Stamkos and Drew Doughty.

Even though they were short-handed at the time, the Latvians finally got on the scoreboard at 17:30 into the second period. Guntis Galviņš, with help from Herberts Vasiļjevs, got the point against Canadian goalkeeper Chris Mason. Seventeen seconds later, Canada’s Stamkos showed the Latvians the flip side of a short-handed goal, using a power play to his advantage to make it 3-1. He was assisted by Hamhuis.

With just about 45 seconds left in the second period, Latvian forward Lauris Dārziņš was taken out of commission when he was slapped with a two-minute penalty for hooking and a 10-minute penalty for game misconduct.

Latvia tried to reassert itself 1:27 into the third period when Vasiļjevs, assisted by Aleksandrs Niživijs and Aleksejs Širokovs, scored. About a minute and a half later, the Canadians answered when Matthew Lombardi made it 4-2. Colby Armstrong and Braydon Coburn were credited with the assist.

Not that it mattered much in the end, but Canada’s Hamhuis was sidelined with just about two and a half minutes left in the came when he was penalized two minutes
for checking to the head and neck area and 10 minutes for misconduct. In all, the Canadians earned 26 minutes in the penalty box, compared to the Latvians’ 24 minutes.

For the game, Canada had 48 shots on goal, while Latvia had 23.

Canada advances to the semifinals.

Thanks to the hometown team, Latvia will face Canada in the quarterfinals of the International Ice Hockey Federation’s World Championship underway in Bern, Switzerland.

After its May 3 loss to Russia during the qualifying round, Latvia sat in fourth place out of the six teams from Group E hoping for a spot in the quarterfinals. The top four teams would advance, while the bottom two would be eliminated from the tournament.

Switzerland surprised the U.S. with a 4-3 overtime victory May 4, but the win was not enough to save the hometown team from being eliminated from the tournament. Because of how points are distributed for victories in the tournament, Switzerland would have had to win during regulation time, rather than overtime, to push Latvia out of the competition.

Meanwhile, Sweden topped France 6-3, securing a place for itself in the quarterfinals. The French, like the Swiss, have been eliminated from the tournament.

Latvia’s match against Canada is scheduled for 16:15 hours Swiss time May 7. The game will be played in the PostFinance Arena in Bern. The winner of the game will play either Sweden or the Czech Republic in the semifinals.

The last time Latvia made the quarterfinals was 2004, but it lost to Sweden and did not advance further.

At this point, Latvia is guaranteed no worse than an eighth-place finish in this year’s World Championship. In all, 16 teams are participating in the tournament.

World champion Russia remained undefeated May 3 as it swamped Latvia 6-1 in the International Ice Hockey Federation tournament underway in Bern, Switzerland. However, Latvia’s hopes of making it to the quarterfinals are still alive.

The much-anticipated game was the final one in the qualifying round for both teams. Latvia, fresh off a 7-1 victory over France on May 2, found itself outgunned against Russia.

Two more games, both slated May 4, remain to be played in Latvia’s qualifying round group. If the U.S. beats Switzerland, and if Sweden triumphs over France, then Latvia will finish fourth out of six teams but will advance to the quarterfinals.

Russia got its first point on a power play at 11:43 into the first period, according to a game summary posted on the IIHF’s Web site, www.iihf.com. Anton Kuryanov, assisted by Sergei Mozyakin, scored against Latvian goalkeeper Edgars Masaļskis.

Russia took 15 shots on goal during the first period, compared to Latvia’s nine.

A minute into the second period, Russia scored again, this time off the stick of Alexei Tereschenko. Teammates Ilya Kovalchuk and Dmitri Kalinin were credited with the assist. Things went from bad to worse for the Latvians. At 3:04 into the period, Oleg Tverdovsky made it 3-0 on a power play. Just 46 seconds later, Kuryanov got his second goal of the game, aided by Alexander Perezhogin.

Latvia finally got on the scoreboard at 16:05 into the second period. After Russia was penalized for having too many skaters on the ice, Latvia took advantage of power play. Herberts Vasiļjevs shot the puck past Russian netminder Alexander Eremenko, making the score 4-1. Guntis Galviņš and Mārtiņš Cipulis helped.

By the end of the second period, Russia had outshot Latvia 31-16.

At 3:38 into the third period, Russia’s Alexander Frolov made the score 5-1. He was assisted by Oleg Tverdovsky and Nikolai Zherdev. A little less than three minutes later, it was Tverdovsky’s turn to get a goal, aided by Sergei Zinoviev and Frolov.

For the game, Russia had 37 shots on goal, compared to Latvia’s 26. The Latvians spent a total of 14 minutes in the penalty box, compared to the Russians’ eight.