Despite the renewed brilliance of Latvian goaltender Patriks Berzins, Finland won 3-0 on Thursday in Moncton to advance to the quarter-finals of the World Junior Hockey Championship.
Berzins said no 26 times this time. Tuesday, in a 3-2 shootout loss to Switzerland, Berzins blocked 27 pucks. The day before, he had made 41 saves to limit the United States to five goals in a backhand.
Jani Nyman, Niko Huuhtanen and Konsta Kapanen – the latter in an empty net – were the scorers. Jani Lampinen meanwhile had a 31-save shutout. The hope of Montreal Canadiens Oliver Kapanen has been cleared of the score sheet.
The Latvians will absolutely have to beat Slovakia on Friday to keep their chances of continuing their journey in this World Cup.
< p>In addition, defender Silvers Lazarenoks saw his tournament end prematurely due to a lower body injury suffered on Tuesday.