Ice hockey: Norway was successful, but Latvia won 5-0
The Norwegian ice hockey team performed much better against Latvia than it did against Slovakia in the tri-nation tournament in Bratislava. Still losing with 0-5.
Tobias Johansson’s men went 0-9 to hosts Slovakia on Wednesday after being beaten several times.
Norway showed the better side in the first half against Latvia.
After 0-0 in the first 20 minutes, Latvia could have taken a 1-0 lead a little too easily midway through the half when Daniels Berzins was left standing unmarked in front of goalkeeper Tobias Breivold and scored.
The 2-0 score was created when the Norwegian team had to play excessively. A bad pass in the offensive zone was exploited by Renars Krastenbergs. He came alone with Breivold and of course scored.
After that, the Norwegian team was a complete mess. Latvia took the lead to 4-0 after two goals 16 seconds apart. First by Anri Ravinskis before Rudolfs Balcers scored 4-0.
Norway had many chances in extra time, but were unable to capitalize on them. Latvia put the final nail in the coffin when Eduard’s Tralmaks scored 5-0 in a superiority match.
– I wonder how many players usually play outnumbered in their clubs, TV 2 ice hockey experts wondered.
Wednesday’s game was the first game Norway has played since the WC in May. Due to financial problems in the ice hockey association, all national team activities were postponed, but with new sponsors they managed to organize this tournament before the new year.
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