George closes the door to win

The Latvians did not turn around, did not play dead and probably surprised some in the Vantaa Trio Arena.

The effort was not enough, however, as Canada defeated Latvia 4-0 to advance to the semifinals of the 2024 IIHF U18 World Championship.

Maxim Masse and Ryder Ritchie gave Canada a 2-0 lead in the first period and then it was the show of Carter George, who stopped 23 shots for his second shutout of the tournament. The Latvians held out throughout the match but were unable to solve George who, surprisingly, was forced to make saves on several Grade A opportunities.

“We knew they were going to play hard. They work very hard and play a good, structured game. They play a lot of defense and they have a good goalie there,” Ritchie said. “No match in this tournament is easy. It was a difficult match, for sure.”

Despite the two-goal deficit, the Latvians had a good first period. Midway through the first, they had a 12-10 shot clock lead and a series of great looks near George.

Masse opened the scoring with a Canadian power play, the team’s seventh man-advantage goal so far. Canada’s leading scorer, Gavin McKenna, increased his point total when he found himself in Gretzky’s office behind the opposing net and made a perfect pass to Masse, who scored his second goal of the tournament.

“I saw Gavin McKenna with the puck in the back of the net and he’ll see everything from there,” Masse told TSN during the first intermission. “I just went to the net and he put it on my stick and after that I just have to shoot.”

Later in the frame, Tig Iginla shot at the Latvian goal, but it was deflected and the puck rolled into the corner. Ritchie picked it up, spun to the top of the faceoff circle and found space to hit his second U18.

Canada held off for most of the second period, limiting the Latvians to six shots, the first of which didn’t come until the 14th minute.

Latvia’s best moment in the second came in the final minutes. Markuss Sieradzkis blocked a shot on his side and ran down the ice in a 1-on-1. He made an incredible move to slide the puck between Harrison Brunicke’s legs and then circled him for a good shot on goal, but George once again shortcut.

Porter Martone provided the third goal and much-needed insurance in the third when he scored on a Caleb Desnoyers shot at 12:47. Jett Luchanko scored into an empty net with a minute left.

One of George’s best saves came in the third on a Latvian 2-on-1. Sieradzkis, who had a fantastic game for the losing team, tried to send a pass to his teammate Harijs Cjunskis, but McKenna got a stick on the puck and inadvertently tipped it towards the Canadian goal, so George had to react quickly to stop it and hold the ball. disk.

“He’s the backbone of our team,” Ritchie said of George. “He keeps us there when we’re not playing our best and made some huge saves. It could have been a completely different game if a couple of them had gone in. He played great again.”

Canada’s victory means they will face Sweden for the second year in a row in the U18 semi-finals. Last year, the Swedes defeated the Canadians 7-2, and Canada needed overtime to beat Slovakia 4-3 in the bronze medal game.

During this year’s preliminary round, Canada defeated Sweden 6-3.