Published: 7 May, 2009, 20:49
Edited: 7 May, 2009, 20:49
Hockey powerhouse Canada moves on to the semi-finals of the World Championship in Switzerland after beating Latvia 4-2 in Bern.
Defending champions Russia had some nervous moments in their quarterfinal against Belarus, grabbing a narrow 4-3 win in the end. And it was not easy for last year’s runners up, Canada, who faced another former Soviet republic – Latvia.
The Maple Leafs couldn’t open the score in the first period. The Baltic team, based on the players of KHL side Dinamo Riga, played accurately in defense, avoiding unnecessary fouls and giving their rivals just four minutes in power play. And when Canadian forwards found themselves in shooting positions, keeper Edgars Masalskis stood firm in the Latvian goal.
Canada finally broke the deadlock on the 6th minute of the second period. A fast counter attack saw Danny Heatley scoring his sixth goal of the tournament, 1-0.
And the favorites then doubled the score. Dan Hamhuis shot from the blue line and the puck went straight into Masalskis’s upper corner, 2-0.
Latvia made an effort to come back into the game and managed to grab a goal of their own through Guntis Galviņs with less then three minutes to play in the half.
But Canada needed just 14 seconds to restore its two-goal advantage. Steven Stamkos was the fastest on the rebound to make it 3-1.
And it was the Latvians who scored first in the final period, after a minute and a half. Herberts Vasiljevs put his name on the scoreboard to make it 3-2.
But a great individual performance by Matthew Lombardi, some two minutes later, made the score 4-2. The Canadian forward took the better of three defenders and a goalkeeper to put the puck into an empty corner.
The Maple Leafs spent the rest of the game defending. The Latvians played five on three at the end of the period, than Danny Heatley got a ten-minute for checking for the head, but the 4-2 score remained.
Canada now goes into the semi-final to face the winner of a clash between Sweden and Czech Republic.