Olympics: Sweden Defeats Latvia To Advance To The Quarterfinals

Dahlin celebrates a goal with his teammates. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

First Period – Sweden Strikes Early

The 7th-seeded Swedes bested the Latvians to advance to a quarterfinal matchup against the Americans. Latvia put up a valiant fight but was unable to overcome Sweden’s firepower. Sweden scored two goals in quick succession just over halfway through the first period. First Adrian Kempe, then Gabriel Landeskog; assists went to Joel Eriksson Ek and William Nylander, and Lucas Raymond and Mika Zibanejad, respectively. Both goals came from net-front plays, as the Swedes made it a point to get to the front of the crease. Sweden outshot Latvia 10–6 in the first period, with Forsling taking a delay-of-game penalty late in the period. Latvia returned the favor by taking an interference penalty that carried over into the second period. The Swedes held a 2–0 lead going into the first intermission.

Second Period – Latvia Pushes Back

Latvia killed off the interference penalty to start the second. But Filip Forsberg, who worked his way into the lineup after starting the tournament as the 13th forward, scored to make it 3–0. Great vision from Erik Karlsson, who made the long pass down low to where Forsberg had beaten the defensemen for an open net; Philip Broberg got the secondary assist. Eduards Tralmaks scored on a rebound to cut the lead to 3–1, and Latvia made a big push in the second half of the period. There was a bit of controversy over a double non-call where a Latvian and a Swede both high-sticked each other, and Tralmaks scored shortly after. However, Markstrom was sharp as Latvia applied pressure. Shots on goal were much closer in the second, as Sweden held only a 9–8 advantage. Hedman took a cross-checking penalty later, but the Swedes were able to kill it off.

Third Period – Sweden Pulls Away

Zibanejad scored early in the third period to put Sweden up 4–1 and the game effectively out of reach; assists went to Lucas Raymond and Gabriel Landeskog, who both had multi-point nights. Nylander added another in the second half of the period to extend the lead to 5–1; Raymond and Rasmus Dahlin recorded the assists. Nylander’s goal came just after a Swedish power play had expired. Latvia continued to fight hard even when down four goals. Sweden held a 9–7 shots-on-goal advantage in the final period. Markstrom posted a .952 save percentage, stopping 20 of 21 shots he faced. For Latvia, Merzlikins recorded an .821 save percentage, stopping 23 of 28 shots.

Final Takeaway

For a team not filled to the brim with NHL players, Latvia had a strong showing in the tournament and competed well, even hanging with the Americans for stretches in their opening game. Sweden played one of its best games of the tournament and will now face the USA in the quarterfinals. It was an unfortunate early matchup for Latvia, falling to the 7th seed based on its pool-play finish.