Canada holds a narrow 1-0 lead over Latvia after two periods in their World Junior Championship preliminary round matchup Saturday night in Minneapolis.
Cole Reschny got Canada on the board with a goal on a five-minute major that came when Martins Klaucans caught Zayne Parekh up high with a check to the head. Klaucans was ejected upon review, giving Canada a lengthy man-advantage.
Dale Hunter’s team was forced to kill off a lengthy penalty of their own when Ben Danford caught a Latvia player up high with his stick and drew a double-minor. But Canada was able to hold Latvia off the board and maintain their one-goal lead that would hold up until the end of the frame.
The Canadians have 24 shots on net while goaltender Jack Ivankovic has stopped all 16 shots he’s faced so far.
Canada got their tournament started on Boxing Day with a 7-5 victory over Czechia. The win was payback as the Czechs have eliminated Canada in the quarterfinals in back-to-back years.
Canada also has revenge on their minds against Latvia, who recorded one of the biggest preliminary round upsets in recent World Junior history with a 3-2 shootout victory over Canada exactly one year ago in Ottawa.
The Canadians will get Sunday off before resuming round-robin play on Monday against Denmark. They will wrap up the preliminary round on New Year’s Eve against Finland.