05/23/26 12:23:00
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05/23 12:22 CDT Latvia stuns the US and the Swiss rout Hungary at ice hockey
worlds
Latvia stuns the US and the Swiss rout Hungary at ice hockey worlds
ZURICH (AP) --- Sandis Vilmanis scored two empty-net goals and Latvia upset the
United States 4-2 to hand the defending champion its third defeat at the ice
hockey world championship on Saturday.
Deniss Smirnovs' goal early in the third period gave Latvia a 2-1 lead and set
up a wild ending.
The Americans pulled goaltender Devin Cooley for an extra attacker but Vilmanis
scored with 1:02 left to make it 3-1.
The U.S. struck back --- again with six skaters --- when Matthew Tkachuk set up
Mathieu Olivier to cut the deficit to one from the slot with 0:51 remaining.
Vilmanis sealed the victory, though, when he netted his second with 42 seconds
to go.
Latvia opened the scoring in the first period when Haralds Egle connected at
8:47 with his team's second shot on goal.
Tkachuk's power-play goal --- his first at the worlds --- tied it at 1-1 with
5:12 remaining in the middle period. The two-time Stanley Cup winner and
Olympic champion played only his second career game at the worlds after joining
teammates on Tuesday.
The loss left the U.S. fifth in Group A, one point behind Latvia. The Americans
have two group-stage games left against Hungary on Monday and Austria on
Tuesday.
In Group B in Fribourg, Denmark blanked Slovenia 4-0 for its first win.
Perfect Swiss
Captain Roman Josi scored a hat trick and added an assist and Sven Andrighetto
had a five-point game with a goal and four assists as Switzerland shut out
Hungary 9-0 in Zurich.
The dominant hosts have been cruising through the tournament with six wins from
six games, including another 9-0 rout of Austria. They lead Group A by three
points from Finland.
In Fribourg, captain Roman ?ervenka deflected the puck into the net with his
skate to score the winner and Czechia topped Slovakia 3-2 in a matchup of
countries that once formed Czechoslovakia.
It was the first defeat for the Slovaks. Canada remained the only unbeaten team
and atop Group B. The Czechs were a point behind and Slovakia two points
further back.
Later Saturday, Austria played Germany in Zurich and Sweden faced Norway in
Fribourg.
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
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