France, Latvia set for a Sunday showdown

Ukraine – Latvia 1-5 (0-2, 0-3, 1-0)

The hosts needed a win over Ukraine to keep their Olympic dreams alive, and everybody in the Riga Arena knew what that meant: Relentless Latvian pressure, cheered on by the home crowd. 
 
And that formula worked. Ukraine fought back for fifteen minutes, but then gave up two goals in 67 seconds. 
 
With five minutes remaining in the first period, Latvia had a faceoff in its own zone. Miks Indrasis caried the puck into the Ukrainian zone and waited for Dans Locmelis to catch up with the attack. Locmelis looked up and fired a wrist shot that beat Ukrainian goalie Eduard Zakharchenko high on the glove side. 
 
On the next shift, the Ukrainian defenders left Roberts Bukarts alone in front of the net. When Martins Dzierkals passed him the puck from behind the net, the 34-year-old veteran had plenty of time to beat Zakharchenko and give the hosts a 2-0 lead.
 
In the second period, Ukraine got into penalty trouble. First, Latvia’s captain Kaspars Daugavins set up Haralds Egle for a slap shot that gave Latvia a 3-0 lead at 9:22 and chased Zakharchenko out of Ukraine’s net.  
 
Back-up goalie Bogdan Dyachenko had only been in for two minutes when it was time for another Latvian power play. The younger Bukarts, RIhards, scored on a breakaway. 
 
And 88 seconds later, Latvia made it 5-0 after an elegant tic-tac-toe play that sent the puck around the Ukraine zone before it landed on Indrasis’s stick. He didn’t miss from close range. 
 
Danil Trakht ended Kristers Gudlevskis’s shutout bid with 11 minutes left in the third period, as his shot from behind the goal line hit the Latvian goalie and bounced in to make it 5-1. 

But for Latvia, the win was the only thing that mattered. Two down, one to go. Versus France on Sunday, the Latvians will try to maintain their record of never missing an Olympic men’s hockey tournament in the 21st century.