Mateiko, Latvia pull off stunning upset win

Saint John Sea Dogs captain Eriks Mateiko scored the lone shootout goal in Latvia's stunning victory over Team Canada on Friday night at the IIHF World Junior Championship.

Mateiko played a starring role in the 3-2 Latvian shootout victory in Ottawa. In 20:59 of ice time, the Washington Capitals prospect had a third period power play goal and six shots on net. His most memorable moment came in the shootout though, scoring the only goal of the breakaway contest in the eighth round.

LATVIA BEATS CANADA IN THE SHOOTOUT 😱

Eriks Mateiko scores the game winner!#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/oIVP2ddA89

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 28, 2024

It was quite a night for the QMJHL. Along with Mateiko's heroics, Peteris Bulans of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens also scored while Sherbrooke Phoenix goaltender Linards Feldbergs made 55 saves in the win.

In what was only their third-ever victory in round-robin play at the @WorldJuniors, @lhf_lv earned their historic win against Canada thanks to three @QMJHL & @CHLHockey players.@SJSeaDogs forward & Latvian alternate captain Eriks Mateiko scored Latvia's first goal and the…

— Christopher Séguin (@chrisseguin_) December 28, 2024

This was Latvia's third-ever win at the world junior tournament and first over Canada. 

This is the second appearance for Mateiko at the event after playing in last year's.

The Latvians won't have a lot of time to celebrate their win. They face the United States on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Atlantic.

Latvia deserves a ton of credit for the win – but Team Canada looked quite bad for most of the night. There will no doubt be some changes to their lineup before Sunday's game against Germany.

Former Sea Dogs forward Pavel Simek, meanwhile, was left off Czechia's submitted roster. Simek was on Czechia's preliminary roster for this year's tournament.

Czechia has registered 22 players (19 skaters and 3 goalies) for the #WorldJuniors, per IIHF rosters.

From the original group, forwards Vojtěch Čihař, Pavel Šimek, Richard Žemlička, and defensemen Patrik Volas, Marek Ročák aren’t on the roster.

Three more skaters can still be… pic.twitter.com/H5HRLCcZ0c

— Czech Prospects (@CZprospects) December 26, 2024

The 19-year-old has not previously skated in a world junior.

Simek, who played with the Sea Dogs the past two seasons, has six goals and seven assists in 27 games with the Rimouski Oceanic this year.

A few other news and notes...

• Gerard Gallant, Mike Kelly and Team Canada opened the Spengler Cup with a 6-2 victory over host HC Davos on Thursday. Charles Hudon scored twice for Canada. The Canadian squad will face the Straubing Tigers on Saturday.
• Former Sea Dogs defenseman Jakub Zboril is also participating in this year's Spengler Cup, skating with HC Dynamo Pardubice. The Dynamo won their opener on Thursday, defeating HC Fribourg-Gottéron 3-2. Pardubice will play Kärpät Oulu on Saturday.
• The Sea Dogs return to action on Saturday after a two-week break, visiting the Moncton Wildcats at 4 p.m. The Sea Dogs are 2-3-0-0 against the first-place Wildcats this season.
• The Acadie-Bathurst Titan host the Halifax Mooseheads on Saturday night. It'll be the Titan's first game since the relocation announcement was made.