Latvian national team players had to do hard work in defense during the friendly match against Finland, acknowledged Latvian team forward Oskars Batnya after the victory, LETA reports.
Let us remind you that on Wednesday Latvia defeated Finland 2:1 in an away friendly match in overtime. Goals for Latvia were scored by Tom Andersons and Batnya, who sent the puck into the opponent's net in extra time.
"There were good speeds. At least for me, after two missed weeks, it was not easy to get into the rhythm right away, but I warmed up in the first period. The pace was fast, they played quite simply, but at the same time, we had to do the hard work in defense," Batnya said in a conversation with the Latvian Hockey Federation (LHF) after the victory.
Andersons also noted that the match was not easy.
"For me, it was the first game in two weeks, I was lacking rhythm, but by the end of the match, we as a line started to play a bit better. We went out with one thought — we need to win the game. And we managed to do that," Andersons said.
"The Finns always play the same way — they skate well, they move well. Of course, they are a good, skilled team, but we fought and achieved victory," the hockey player added. "We needed to follow the coach's plan, which was a bit lacking, but there is work to be done."
On Thursday, the Latvian national team will play against the Danish team.
Before this year's World Championship in early April, the Latvian team played two home matches against Austria, losing the first game 3:4 and winning the second 1:0.
The Latvian team will complete the preparatory stage with matches on May 6 and 7, when they will play against Norway on home ice.
The World Hockey Championship will take place from May 15 to 31 in Zurich and Fribourg (Switzerland). The Latvian team will compete in Group B in Zurich, where their opponents will be Canada, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Great Britain.
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