Michael Hage’s overtime heroics deny Latvia a second straight upset, as Canada battles through a tense rematch and secures a hard-fought victory.
Canada got their redemption against Czechia on Boxing Day, winning their wild affair 7-5. Canada was knocked out of the quarterfinals by the Czechs at the 2025 event, but you could argue that their tournament started to spiral away from them when they lost to Latvia.
Latvia came up with one of the biggest upset victories in World Junior Championship history, defeating Canada 3-2 in a shootout at last year’s tournament. Canada dominated the game, outshooting Latvia 57-26. Latvian netminder Linards Feldbergs was phenomenal and a main reason why they were able to pull off the upset.
Canada, just like against Czechia, had the opportunity to get redemption against the Latvians Saturday evening, but it was another nail-biter for Canadian hockey fans.
The first period ended with no score for either side. Latvia was outshooting Canada for the majority of the opening frame, but a late flurry of chances gave Canada the 11-8 edge. However, Latvia had a lot of quality chances coming off turnovers, an area that plagued Canada in their opener against Czechia.
It wasn’t an inspiring first 20 minutes, and Canada needed to come out in the second and exhibit their dominance.
Canada was gifted an opportunity to break the game open early in the second, after Latvian forward Martins Klaucans was assessed a game misconduct for an illegal check to the head on Zayne Parekh. As far as hit-to-the-head calls go, this was a rather soft call.
Alas, it was a gift given by the referees, and Canada wasted no time on the five-minute power play.
Calgary Flames 2025 first-rounder Cole Reschny is mainly out on the power play to win faceoffs. But he took advantage of some open ice to walk into the slot and fire the puck past Nils Roberts Maurins.
Reschny’s power play goal came less than one minute into the five-minute major. However, the rest of the man advantage was quite underwhelming. They registered only a total of three shots on net on that five-minute power play and the lone goal by the Flames prospect.
Canada later in the period killed off a Ben Danford four-minute penalty for high sticking and headed into the final frame with just a 1-0 lead. Latvia played an extremely structured defensive game. They gave up no easy chances in the middle of the ice and very few rush chances. Clearly, the coaching staff told their defensemen to stay back and limit their pinches.
“They work hard. They bring a lot of energy. And they played well,” Gavin McKenna said after the game regarding the Latvians.
Latvia Head Coach Artis Abols, who was behind the bench for his country in their upset win over Canada last year, deserves a ton of credit for the way he had his team play.
“'You need to see what you have," Abols said. "You can't play that open hockey with a speedy and skillful team like Canada. We want to be aggressive. But you know, if you have a gun with 100 bullets, you can shoot all over. But if you have a gun with 10 bullets, you need to be smart."
While we can’t find the official amount, Latvia had to have recorded 20+ blocked shots. Their commitment to getting into the shooting lanes would bring a tear of joy to any coach. Canada all night struggled to get shots through traffic, especially from their blueline.
Canada, while up 1-0 in the third, started to press. Brady Martin wrang one off the crossbar, and his linemate Michael Hage was stopped off a Gr. A rush chance. But just like last year, Latvia found the equalizer late in the game.
The bend but don’t break method worked for Latvia. They were patient and stuck to their gameplan. With less than two minutes on the clock in regulation, Latvia’s Rudolfs Berzkalns tied the game up, sending shivers down the spines of Canadian fans.
Fortunately for Team Canada, Latvian Roberts Naudins flipped the puck out of play with 51 seconds left, gifting Canada a power play opportunity to make amends.
A flurry of fearless blocked shots pushed the game into overtime. Three points in the standings were no longer on the table, which could prove to be a big factor for Canada in terms of final seeding for the elimination round.
In the extra frame, it was Gavin McKenna finding Michael Hage for a one-timer that gave Hockey Canada, the Canadian players and coaches, and all of their fans a massive sigh of relief.
A win is a win, but should Canada be concerned after this performance? Or is it time for countries to stop underestimating Latvia at the World Juniors?
Canada will have the day off on Sunday, Dec. 28, before getting back into action against Denmark on Monday, Dec. 29.
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