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The Latvia – USA game didn’t go as everyone expected. The relentless Latvians made sure the game would go all the way to the OT where Cam Atkinson clinched Americans a victory.
A terrible start for Latvians – two bench minors in a row putting them down to 5-on-3 vs the forceful American team. Chris Kreider tipped in a loose puck to make it 1-0. Latvia took a while to calm down but ultimately after that, they were the ones controlling the game. Latvians pushed until Uvis Balinskis sent a wrist shot from the point that ended up going past Keith Kinkaid. Puck had appeared to have touched Anders Lee’s stick and so the game was tied 1-1. Latvia got yet another chance very late in the period with Rodrigo Abols raced down the ice but his shot went wide.
In the 2nd period, Anders Lee was sent to the box for interference and it was the time when Latvia struck for the 2nd time. Miks Indrasis with a shot towards the net, Keith Kinkaid left the loose puck out there and Andris Dzerins scrapped it in, 2-1 lead for Latvia. Teams would head into the 2nd intermission all tied up. Colin White shot the puck which juggled through Elvis Merzlikins pads.
No goals were scored in the 3rd so it was going to be decided in overtime. OT got underway with the USA creating their chances in Latvian zone. Oskars Cibulskis took down Dylan Larkin and was sent to the box which was enough for Cam Atkinson to assure his team to have the victory over Latvia, 3-1 the final score.
"It wasn't the prettiest of goals but it counts." Atkinson said. "Credit to Latvia they fought the entire game and played well in the transition."
The third period was a mix of fast and entertaining hockey for both sides. Lots of scoring chances, back and forth hockey, however, Czech’s looked better and visibly lacked secondary scoring otherwise they would have scored at least one more given how they performed. Extra time was required, for Czechs it was the third game in the tournament that required at least OT. Speaking of depth? Who needs it? Pastrnak scored again to grant Czech Republic a win against Russia from an assist of David Krejci. These guys collected a grand total of 7 points between them.
After the game David Krejci apologised to the media and stressed that his feet are hurting very badly and that he wants to get to the dressing room asap.
Pastrnak ends Russia to win it 4:3 in OT for the Brui... Czech Republic. Such a clever goal.
— Aivis Kalniņš (@A_Kalnins) May 10, 2018
Summary: Pastrnak 3pts in first game
Krejci: 4 pts in first game. pic.twitter.com/GXbawCSQpw