After a scoreless first period - without a single penalty call, Russia quickly opened the scoring early in the second period, followed by another goal on a power play six minutes later.
Then followed a string of penalties by Russia. Latvia had one man advantage for a total of nine minutes - and a lot of scoring opportunities - but no more goals were scored in the second period with an underpowered offense unable to put the puck in the net.
Russia went on to score a third goal seven minutes into the third period, followed by another power play goal close to the end of the match. Halfway through the third period, Latvia had a two man advantage for almost two minutes, generating another flurry of scoring chances - yet again they drew a blank and no goals were scored.
The scorers for Russia were Artemi Panarin (two goals), Yevgeni Dadonov, and Vadim Shipachyov.
Latvia is now in last place in Group A with 2 points from overtime losses to the Czech Republic and Sweden, while Russia is in first place with six points.
Latvia will play its next group match against Switzerland Tuesday.
As reported, besides Latvia and Russia, Group A also includes Sweden, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark and Kazakhstan.
The top four teams in each of the two groups will advance to the tournament's quarterfinals, while the two last placed finishers in each group will be relegated to Division A.
Latvia finished in 13th place at last year's World Championships in the Czech Republic.
