The powerful Russian team, which remains unbeaten in the tournament, deserved the win, though the scoreline ended up being slightly flattering with some of the refereeing decisions questioned by Latvian fans.
However, those calls can not be said to have affected the final result and after Canada slipped to a 3:2 defeat against Switzerland the same night, Russia is looking like the team to beat.
HIGHLIGHTS: @russiahockey_en remained unbeaten at #IIHFWorlds, with a convincing win over Latvia. More > https://t.co/C97F8B7YaM pic.twitter.com/GWsWudzz9q
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 15, 2017
But Latvia's tournament is not yet over. The defeat means the final game of the group against Germany on May 16 at 21:15 Riga time will decide if Latvia makes it to the knock-out stages of the tournament after 3 wins and 3 losses.
Both teams have 9 points from 6 games, so whoever wins will make it to the last 8.
There is sure to be partisan support from the home crowd but as the video posted below shows, the Latvian fans' enthusiasm is infectious and many neutrals will be rooting for the battling Balts!
The Latvians are so passionate, they're recruiting new fans ? #RUSvsLAT #IIHFWorlds @lhf_lv pic.twitter.com/nSD7KLCZPC
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 15, 2017
And there was some early good news for hockey fans with news that LTV (with which LSM is affiliated) and telecoms company Lattelecom have announced plans to provide live coverage of IIHF world ice hockey championship fixtures for the next 6 years. The deal will start with next year's championship in Denmark.
