World Juniors Upset - What Went Wrong for Canada?

The keys to an upset in hockey are an amazing goalie performance, keeping the score tied for as long as possible, and capitalizing on your limited opportunities. Latvia checked off all these boxes in a shocking upset that saw them defeat Canada 3-2 in shootout Friday night. Canada came into this World Juniors as slight favourites over the United States of America (USA) and coming off an opening night 4-0 victory over Finland it did not look like they should have any trouble handling a Latvian team playing their first game of the tournament. Playing at home in front of another large crowd the Canadians looked uninspired and undisciplined in a shocking shootout loss to Latvia. This is the second straight tournament where Latvia has pulled as upset against a heavily favoured opponent, knocking Germany to the relegation round last year after a 6-2 thumping of the German team. This game was never in hand for Canada, barely outshooting Latvia at the end of the first period and still tied 0-0 was not something hockey fans expected from the hockey giants in a game where they previously held a 4-0 record, +37 goal difference and a most recent score result of 10-0 at last year’s tournament. All signs pointed to the Canadians handily taking this game. The Latvians had other ideas in mind and despite being outshot 57-27 they never truly seemed out of this game. Following their Boxing Day game against Finland where they gave up five powerplay opportunities, the undisciplined play continued with the Canadians racking up seven penalties in this matchup. The multitude of powerplay opportunities accompanied with the stellar goaltending of Latvian goalkeeper Linards Feldbergs kept the Latvian hopes alive and being down just one goal going into the third period the Latvian resilience finally broke through. Latvia tied the game with seven minutes to go in the third period with a powerplay goal from Washington Capitals prospect Eriks Mateiko further stoking the upset bid. Canada took the lead back a minute after and looked to be on their way to avoiding a monumental upset but once again the Latvians had other plans. Latvia struck back with 2:29 remaining in the final period with another powerplay goal. The Canadians undisciplined play was finally coming back to haunt them, giving Latvia multiple chances on the powerplay allowing them to get some high-quality chances and ultimately resulting in both their goals. Overtime was relatively balanced with the Canadians once again taking a penalty in a critical situation leading to some Latvian pressure to end overtime. Off to a shootout where both goalies went unbeaten for seven rounds before Eriks Mateiko came up again in the eighth round with a chance to win the game for the underdog Latvians. Mateiko made no mistake with a beautiful shot over the blocker of Jack Ivankovic which sealed the upset victory for Latvia and will leave Canada with a lot to work on ahead of their Sunday matchup against a Germany team that has started off the tournament with back-to-back losses to the Americans and Finns. Latvia meanwhile will look to quell their emotions and provide another incredible upset as they take on the Americans Saturday. Canada will have to handle their discipline issues if they are to contend for a medal and improve on their lackluster 5th place result from last year. With an off-day Saturday Canada will look to recover mentally and will hope to have defenceman Matthew Schaefer return for Sunday’s game against Germany after leaving early in the game against Latvia with an upper-body injury.