GDT: Group B - May 18 - Latvia vs Russia

[stv11]

2019 IIHF World Championship
Group B

May 18
6:15 AM ET • 12:15 PM CET

Latvia vs Russia

Latvia
Last game's lineup

Goaltenders:
30 Elvis Merzļikins
50 Kristers Gudļevskis

Defensemen:
29 Ralfs Freibergs - 11 Kristaps Sotnieks
32 Artūrs Kulda - 27 Oskar Cibuļskis
58 Guntis Galviņš - 26 Uvis Balinskis
77 Kristaps Zīle

Forwards:
10 Lauris Dārziņš - 70 Miks Indrašis - 14 Rihards Bukarts
21 Rūdolfs Balcers - 23 Theodor Blueger - 87 Gints Meija
71 Roberts Bukarts - 95 Oskars Batņa - 91 Ronalds Ķēniņš
49 Emīls Ģēģeris - 96 Māris Bičevskis - 12 Rihards Marenis
17 Mārtiņš Dzierkals

Scratched:
G 31 Gustavs Grigals
F 18 Rodrigo Ābols


Russia
Last game's lineup

Goaltenders:
88 Andrei Vasilevsky
40 Alexandar Georgiyev

Defensemen:
98 Mikhail Sergachyov - 89 Nikita Nesterov
9 Dmitry Orlov - 22 Nikita Zaitsev
3 Dinar Khafizullin - 4 Vladislav Gavrikov
61 Nikita Zadorov

Forwards:
25 Mikhail Grigorenko - 11 Yevgeni Malkin - 63 Yevgeni Dadonov
8 Alexander Ovechkin - 92 Yevgeni Kuznetsov - 64 Alexander Barabanov
97 Nikita Gusev - 15 Artyom Anisimov - 86 Nikita Kucherov
71 Ilya Kovalchuk - 13 Sergei Andronov - 77 Kirill Kaprizov
7 Ivan Telegin

Scratched:
G 31 Ilya Sorokin
F 16 Sergei Plotnikov


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[Chevx]

Vasilevski as a starter? 6:1, have a feeling that Malkin will stack some points.

 

[Khokhlach86]

Vasilevski as a starter?

Yes

 

[EK47]

Have a feeling this will be closer than people think.

 

[Chevx]

Have a feeling this will be closer than people think.

Not more than USA - DEN match. Guess there will be no clean sheet, but Russia can easily score 4 or more unanswered goals.

 

[EK47]

If Latvia can keep it tight they will have opportunities to hurt Russia their defense leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[ozo]

Russia their defense leaves a lot to be desired.

Unfortunately, so does our offense...

 

[BigBadBoar]

Janis Jaks, a NCAA defender , has a tough game and some hard work before him, facing the Russian offensive stars.

 

[GX]

Janis Jaks, a NCAA defender , has a tough game and some hard work before him, facing the Russian offensive stars.

We'll see, how much he will actually play. Hartley usually goes with 7 defenders, so he can rotate them. So far this year it seems he hasn't benched anyone, though.

EDIT: Scratch that, no Galviņš on the line-up, so 6 defenders it is.

 

[Mike Puck]

Yes

I wonder if that means Georgiev tomorrow?

 

[Kshahdoo]

What a hit from Ovi!

 

[shtorm2005]

What a hit by Ovy...

 

[JHB]

Nice goal. Go Latvia.

 

[shtorm2005]

Latvia goal

 

[GX]

It's really great to see our PP working for once. Good start by Merzlikins too. Other than that, it seems we are letting Russians control the game and set the early slow tempo. I can only imagine it will change now and the pace will pick up.

 

[Pensionsraddare]

Latvia was two up against Czechs so i wouldn't take much out of that goal. Interesting start though.

 

[GX]

Latvia was two up against Czechs so i wouldn't take much out of that goal. Interesting start though.

Vs Czechs it was a good, close game until the early 2nd period 5min PP for Czechs, which helped them wake up. Russia is controlling 70-80% possession already now, so, yeah, if we don't change anything, it will be really, really unlikely to hold the lead for too long.

 

[ellja3]

What are the rules re: broken stick in high stick situations, if any?

 

[shtorm2005]

Gusev missed an open net on power play.

 

[VictorLustig]

Latvians can play. Ovechkin doesn't look like an asset for the Russians.

 

[GX]

Russia clearly had more chances, especially with the 4 min PP, however, a really good period by Latvia. 3-4 scoring chances, a goal and a strong goaltending effort? Yeah, I'll take that.

 

[Namejs]

Lazy, lacklustre game by the Russians. They had 2 great scoring chances and a couple of more good looks, but we could've snatched another one in the end there as well

This is way closer than expected.

I wonder if it will last another period or they will leave it to the 3rd.

 

[shtorm2005]

1-1 Orlov. Nice start of the period.

 

[ellja3]

I am not sure why Latvian commentary are saying Merzlikins is to blame for this goal, great shot.

 

[GX]

Dumb penalty by Kulda