Sweden edges Latvia 2:1 in OT in opening match of 2016 IIHF World Championship

The Swedish national ice hockey team edged Latvia 2:1 (1:0, 0:0, 0:1, 1:0) in overtime on Friday afternoon in their first game of the 2016 IIHF World Championship in the Russian capital of Moscow.

The first goal in the match was scored some three minutes into the opening period by Swedish Jimmie Ericsson. The rest of the first period and the second period went scoreless.

The Latvian team managed to respond with less than eight minutes remaining in the match time after Kristaps Sotnieks shot past the Swedish goaltender to tie the score at 1-1, which remained unchanged until the final buzzer.

It was Sweden’s Gustav Nyquist, who called it a day in the match, putting a netter for his team in overtime.

The matches of the 2016 IIHF World Championship are held in the Russian capital of Moscow and in the country’s second largest city of St. Petersburg between May 6 and 22.

A total of 16 national teams, qualified to play in the 2016 IIHF World Championship, were divided into two groups. The 12,000-seat VTB Ice Palace in Moscow hosts the matches of Group A, which comprise the teams from Russia, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Latvia, Norway, Denmark and Kazakhstan.

The 6,000-seat Yubileiny Arena hosts the matches of Group B teams, which are from Canada, Finland, the United States, Slovakia, Belarus, France, Germany and Hungary.

Sweden’s Tre Kroner will play their next game against Denmark on May 8, while Latvia is facing the Czech Republic on May 7.

tass.ru

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