Heavy loss for Kazakhstan, Latvia gets second victory

Kazakhstan suffered a second heavy loss in 24 hours, going down 5-1 to Canada. That follows a 0-5 loss to Switzerland the night before.

Canada took control of the game early. MacKenzie Weegar opened the scoring after 19 seconds, then assisted as Lawson Crouse doubled the lead with five minutes played. Crouse potted his second a couple of minutes later and Kazakhstan was in danger of being blown away.

Things calmed down a little and Adil Beketayev made it 1-3 midway through the first period. The Canadians added a fourth before the intermission, but could not extend that lead further despite dominating the middle frame.

A goal from Samuel Blais early in the third wrapped up a comfortable win for Canada and leaves Kazakhstan in seventh place in the group, two points clear of winless Slovenia.

For Tamirlan Gaitamirov, one of the young Kazakh players getting a first taste of World Championship action, facing Canada was a big learning curve.

“Canada’s a good opponent and it was a real tough game,” he said. “We have a lot to learn, we have to get better, get faster. But a game like this is huge for us, it’s a great opportunity. We can see where we have to get better at everything.”

Earlier in Riga, the co-host posted a second successive win. Latvia edged a 2-1 verdict over Norway thanks to two goals in 39 seconds in the middle frame. Rodrigo Abols and Toms Andersons were on target to put the Latvians in control, and the second-period shot count was 17-1 in the home team’s favor. However, that one shot saw Ludwig Hoff get Norway on the board.

Latvia’s experienced forward Kaspars Daugavins was relieved that the Norwegian goal did not prompt a collapse from his team-mates. “The good thing was we didn’t panic after they scored,” he told IIHF. com. “Sometimes you can lose a game if you let them take the momentum, but we stuck with it and finished the period well. The third was pretty even.”

Indeed, the final frame saw no further scoring to keep Latvia on top and revive hopes of making the quarterfinals.

Anttila paces Finnish win

Finland’s Marko Anttila has been a talismanic figure in his country’s recent World Championship successes. Tonight, with the host nation struggling to overcome France, the big forward delivered once again.

The French, rocked by a loss to Hungary 24 hours earlier, silenced the Nokia Arena with a goal after 64 seconds. Finland soon cancelled that one out thanks to Harri Pesonen but this was a twitchy 1-1 game at the first intermission.

Then Anttila got started. First came an assist as Ahti Oksanen made it 2-1. Then, after France tied it up again, Anttila scored his first of the tournament, turning Vincent Llorca inside out before dragging a shot past Julian Junca.

“It’s a big win,” Anttila said. “It always is when we win here. France was very active, they were skating hard. It wasn’t the easiest night for us, but I think we were patient enough and we scored enough goals. I think we deserved to win tonight.”

France still hung around. Even after Teemu Hartikainen’s power play goal at the start of the third made it 4-2, there was a reply from Charles Bertrand to keep the game alive in the final 10 minutes. It wasn’t until Sakari Manninen added an empty-netter that Finland could finally relax and rubber-stamp only its second win in the first four games of the tournament.

That’s an unusually slow start to a competition for the defending champion, but Atte Ohtamaa sees no reason to panic. “We know how this tournament goes,” the former Jokerit, Ak Bars, Barys and Lokomotiv defenseman said. “We have to keep better with each game and we’re doing that.“

“We had to be patient tonight. It was a tight game and when they got the first goal that’s always challenging. But in the second and third periods we were playing better and we got the goals that we needed in the end.”

Finland’s battle against France came after team USA reeled off a fourth consecutive victory. The team’s youngsters were prominent once again, with Carter Mazur potting his first of the tournament and defenseman Lane Hutson getting a highlight-reel effort on the way to a 4-1 victory over Austria.

Main photo: Eurasia Sport Images / Getty Sport / GettyImages.ru