The Latvians were the 12th seeded team after the preliminary rounds, and the Czechs were expected to walk all over them on the way to the quarters. Latvia and goaltender Edgars Masalskis had other ideas, however, and, despite falling behind 2-0, they stormed back to tie it in the 3rd, and forced overtime. Unfortunately for the underdogs, in the extra frame, David Krejci snuck a wrister through the wickets on Masalskis, and sent a wave of relief through a Czech team that had been pushed to the brink of elimination.
The Czechs did most of their damage in the first period, coming out strong and scoring on 2 of their 16 first period shots. Tomas Fleischmann beat Masalskis midway through the period, giving the Czechs a 2 goal lead. Tomas Rolinek had scored a powerplay goal with Georgis Pujacs in the box earlier in the first. Getting out of the first down by only 2 goals was actually a bit of a success for the Latvians, considering they were dominated throughout, and only managed 4 shots of their own.
After a far more even 2nd period, the Latvians scored 2 goals in the 2nd half of the 3rd period, as Martins Cipulis and Mikelis Redlihs were able to solve Tomas Vokoun. The Czechs had played a far more laidback game since dominating the first, but with the score tied, they appeared to wake up a bit, and got a number of good quality scoring chances in the last couple of minutes. Masalskis was up to the task, however, and this one was headed for extra time.
Both teams managed a couple of good chances in overtime, but it was one of the not-so-great chances that ended this one. Krejci picked up speed heading into the Latvian zone just before the halfway mark of the period, and tossed a weak wrist shot that somehow squeezed between Masalskis’ pads. A disappointing end to the game for the Latvians, but just the fact that they were even able to make it such a close game is a huge success for them. The Czechs will move on to face Finland in the quarterfinals.