In their upset win over Canada in the group stage of the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, the Latvians were outshot 57-27, but their big hero on the day was goaltender Linards Feldsbergs, who made 55 saves in 65 minutes of hockey, then stopped all eight shots he faced in the shootout.
The team’s offensive star was Washington Capitals prospect Eriks Mateiko, who figured that “The Canadians panicked a little bit at the end.”
The 19-year-old captain of the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs got Latvia on the board with a power-play goal in the third period. He then ended the game with the only goal of the shootout.
He couldn’t remember either of his shootout attempts very well when asked about them after the game, however.
“I don’t know,” the 6-foot-6 winger chuckled. “To be honest, I blacked out a little bit. It took me like 10 minutes to remember where I shot it because it was my second shootout and I usually only shoot one. I don’t even know where the puck went on the first.”
Asked about this strategy for the shot, he smiled, “The coach just said, ‘Shoot it,’ so I just went and shot it.”
As head coach Artis Abols rightfully pointed out after the game, the two points from this game alone won’t be enough to see Latvia through to the quarterfinals, so their work is far from done. Nonetheless, it is a historic win for the nation of less than two million people.
“We’re not a big country so beating Canada means a lot to us, said Mateiko.
The Latvians don’t have much time to celebrate their win and things won’t get any easier. About 17 hours after celebrating their shootout win over Canada, they face off against defending champion USA on Saturday at 3:30pm local time in Ottawa, 22:30 in Latvia.