In the last game of the World Ice Hockey Championship, the Latvian national team defeated the Hungarian team with a score of 8:1.
Goals were scored by Rudolf Balcers, Denis Smirnov, and Eduards Tralmaks (1st period); Tom Anderson and Mik Tumans (2nd period); Renars Krastenbergs and Sandis Vilmanis twice (3rd period).
During the game, Kristers Gudlevskis conceded one goal – to ease the bitterness of defeat for the Hungarians?
Thus, the Latvian national team rises to 3rd place in its group (6th overall in the championship). The Austrian team could theoretically displace them to 4th place if they defeat the USA today – unlikely, but not impossible.
In any case, the Latvian national team will reach the quarter-finals and will learn its opponent in the fight for a place in the semi-finals by this evening.
As for the game against Hungary, we should especially note Balcers – he scored his 7th goal, leads the scoring list of this World Championship, and is approaching the highest achievement set by Helmut Balderis. It is worth reminding that the last time a player from Latvia scored the most goals in the World Championship was almost half a century ago – in 1978. Back then, Helmut Balderis, wearing the USSR jersey, scored 9 goals.
For fairness, it should be noted that today's game meant nothing for the Hungarians. Whether they won or lost was irrelevant, as the Hungarian team remains in 7th place, keeping their spot in the world hockey elite for another year.
Thus, the Hungarians could relax and enjoy themselves. However, they likely did not enjoy it, but they should have learned a lesson – it is better not to mess with the Latvian national team.
