Even though neither history nor the number of NHLers were on their side, Latvia battled their way to an impressive 4-3 over Germany.
Dans Locmelis scored twice for Latvia, Arturs Silovs made 26 saves. Germany’s Philipp Grubauer stopped the puck 19 times.
"Today I was not thinking about my points or goals, I just want to be part of something big," Locmelis said. "It feels good, especially as a huge team win. Everyone was blocking shots and Silovs was unbelievable in the net."
"We aren't pleased at all with the game. We lost. Latvia did a good job in the neutral zone, making it tough to enter their zone. We didn't the puck deep, and we didn't get to pucks first, and I think it took a lot of energy to deal with," said Germany's Frederik Tiffels.
It was only the second Olympic matchup between Germany and Latvia. In Salt Lake City Germany took a 4-1 win, and in the 21st century Germany has lost only once to Latvia; a 3-1 loss in a preliminary round game at the 2018 IIHF World Championship in Herning, Denmark.
Added to that, that Germany had elite NHLers: forwards Leon Draisaitl, Tim Stutzle, JJ Peterka, defenseman Moritz Seider and goaltender Philipp Grubauer, and Germany was the favorite to win the game.
But anything can happen in a hockey game.
Germany did open strong, but it was the non-NHLers who led the way early in the game. Just two minutes in, Dominik Kahun’s clever stretch pass sent Lukas Reichel on a partial breakaway, and he beat Silovs with a quick snipe on the blocker side at 2:06.
It was Germany, and especially Draisaitl who kept Latvians on their toes for the first half of the period, but Latvia dug in, and even outshot Germany 11-7 in the period.
"When we were playing the U.S., we were still getting into the systems and everything. Today we went over those things and cleaned up a lot of our mistakes," Latvia's Janis Jaks explained.
"The rink is small, so it's pretty quick hockey both ways. We have to support each other, especially in the defensive zone. If the forwards don't help the guy with the puck, it just makes it tougher. You only have a second."
With less than five minutes remaining, Latvia got their opportunity on powerplay. Straight off an offensive zone faceoff, as the German forwards jumped to cover the Latvian defenders, the puck bounced to Zemgus Girgensons who waited for Grubauer to commit and then set up Dans Locmelis who slammed it in from the doorstep to tie the game at 15:48.
A mere 68 seconds later, there was an errant Latvian pass from the corner to Frederik Tiffels in the slot. He patiently passed it to Lukas Kalble who beat Silovs on the short side for the German go-ahead goal at 16:56.
The first half of the second period was littered with penalties and Germany handed Latvia a golden opportunity to come back to the game on an 80-second two-man advantage.
They needed 61 seconds. Locmelis scored his second of the night with a quick wrister through the small space between Grubauer’s head and the post and tied the game at 8:02 into the period.
The rest of the period was Germany’s – they outshot Latvia 13-7 – and especially Draisaitl had several high-quality scoring chances, but he just couldn’t capitalize on them.
Within the first five minutes of the third period, Tobias Rieder had a partial breakaway, Stutzle fired point blank from the slot, Draisaitl drove hard to the net, but Silovs handled them all.
Germany even got a powerplay opportunity but came up short. Just as Latvia was back on full strength, Girgensons sent a long cross-ice pass to Eduards Tralmaks, sending him on a breakaway, and his wrister beat Grubauer on the blocker side at 8:52
And just three minutes later, Renars Krastenbergs made it 4-2 after a mad scramble around the German net, off a Kaspars Daugavins rebound. Latvia had a two-goal lead with 8:22 remaining in the game.
It wasn’t over yet. Germany pulled Grubauer and threw everything at the Latvians and with 2:19 remaining, Stutzle’s wrister from the slot somehow found its way through a wall of flesh into the Latvian net to bring Germany within one. Draisaitl and Peterka picked up assists.
With 52 seconds remaining, Reichel’s deflection hit the post, but that was as close they got.
"It was a 50-50 game, but when it was 2-2, they capitalized on their chances. We were running into a wall. We had some chances, but we couldn't put it in, and when they had the 4-2 lead, they packed the neutral zone," Tiffels noted.
Long after Germany has left the ice, the overjoyed Latvian players were still on the ice, thanking their equally overjoyed fans, but they're not in Milan just to win one game.
"The most important games are coming up. It's just the beginning of the tournament," said Locmelis.
Dans Locmelis scored twice for Latvia, Arturs Silovs made 26 saves. Germany’s Philipp Grubauer stopped the puck 19 times.
"Today I was not thinking about my points or goals, I just want to be part of something big," Locmelis said. "It feels good, especially as a huge team win. Everyone was blocking shots and Silovs was unbelievable in the net."
"We aren't pleased at all with the game. We lost. Latvia did a good job in the neutral zone, making it tough to enter their zone. We didn't the puck deep, and we didn't get to pucks first, and I think it took a lot of energy to deal with," said Germany's Frederik Tiffels.
It was only the second Olympic matchup between Germany and Latvia. In Salt Lake City Germany took a 4-1 win, and in the 21st century Germany has lost only once to Latvia; a 3-1 loss in a preliminary round game at the 2018 IIHF World Championship in Herning, Denmark.
Added to that, that Germany had elite NHLers: forwards Leon Draisaitl, Tim Stutzle, JJ Peterka, defenseman Moritz Seider and goaltender Philipp Grubauer, and Germany was the favorite to win the game.
But anything can happen in a hockey game.
Germany did open strong, but it was the non-NHLers who led the way early in the game. Just two minutes in, Dominik Kahun’s clever stretch pass sent Lukas Reichel on a partial breakaway, and he beat Silovs with a quick snipe on the blocker side at 2:06.
It was Germany, and especially Draisaitl who kept Latvians on their toes for the first half of the period, but Latvia dug in, and even outshot Germany 11-7 in the period.
"When we were playing the U.S., we were still getting into the systems and everything. Today we went over those things and cleaned up a lot of our mistakes," Latvia's Janis Jaks explained.
"The rink is small, so it's pretty quick hockey both ways. We have to support each other, especially in the defensive zone. If the forwards don't help the guy with the puck, it just makes it tougher. You only have a second."
With less than five minutes remaining, Latvia got their opportunity on powerplay. Straight off an offensive zone faceoff, as the German forwards jumped to cover the Latvian defenders, the puck bounced to Zemgus Girgensons who waited for Grubauer to commit and then set up Dans Locmelis who slammed it in from the doorstep to tie the game at 15:48.
A mere 68 seconds later, there was an errant Latvian pass from the corner to Frederik Tiffels in the slot. He patiently passed it to Lukas Kalble who beat Silovs on the short side for the German go-ahead goal at 16:56.
The first half of the second period was littered with penalties and Germany handed Latvia a golden opportunity to come back to the game on an 80-second two-man advantage.
They needed 61 seconds. Locmelis scored his second of the night with a quick wrister through the small space between Grubauer’s head and the post and tied the game at 8:02 into the period.
The rest of the period was Germany’s – they outshot Latvia 13-7 – and especially Draisaitl had several high-quality scoring chances, but he just couldn’t capitalize on them.
Within the first five minutes of the third period, Tobias Rieder had a partial breakaway, Stutzle fired point blank from the slot, Draisaitl drove hard to the net, but Silovs handled them all.
Germany even got a powerplay opportunity but came up short. Just as Latvia was back on full strength, Girgensons sent a long cross-ice pass to Eduards Tralmaks, sending him on a breakaway, and his wrister beat Grubauer on the blocker side at 8:52
And just three minutes later, Renars Krastenbergs made it 4-2 after a mad scramble around the German net, off a Kaspars Daugavins rebound. Latvia had a two-goal lead with 8:22 remaining in the game.
It wasn’t over yet. Germany pulled Grubauer and threw everything at the Latvians and with 2:19 remaining, Stutzle’s wrister from the slot somehow found its way through a wall of flesh into the Latvian net to bring Germany within one. Draisaitl and Peterka picked up assists.
With 52 seconds remaining, Reichel’s deflection hit the post, but that was as close they got.
"It was a 50-50 game, but when it was 2-2, they capitalized on their chances. We were running into a wall. We had some chances, but we couldn't put it in, and when they had the 4-2 lead, they packed the neutral zone," Tiffels noted.
Long after Germany has left the ice, the overjoyed Latvian players were still on the ice, thanking their equally overjoyed fans, but they're not in Milan just to win one game.
"The most important games are coming up. It's just the beginning of the tournament," said Locmelis.
Germany vs Latvia - 2026 Men's Olympic Games
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