Italy is scratching the big surprise

After significant defeats against Germany and Norway, the Blue Team lost their third appearance in Riga 0-3. However, the weakened Azzurri struggled to equalize several times before Latvia, who had already defeated Canada during the tournament, pulled away with two empty-net goals. Italy knew how to please with a lot of passion and tactical discipline, but through individual mistakes and a lack of presence in the opponent's third they lost their first point at this World Cup.

There was a lot of speed right from the start in the third group game. The Latvians were mainly responsible for this, as they quickly seized the scepter and pushed for the lead, although Italy held up well and repeatedly tried quick counterattacks. As in the Azzurri's two World Cup games so far, the middle third proved to be the trend-setting: after two of the hosts' goals were disallowed due to goalkeeper interference and a skate hit, Martins Karsums broke the spell in the 33rd minute. He took advantage of a careless loss of a target by Gregorio Gios in the build-up to the game to give the previously very strong Justin Fazio the disadvantage in the second attempt. The negative highlight of the middle section was a bad board check by Rolands Kenins against Phil Pietroniro, which was sanctioned with a large bench penalty. Petan's equalizing goal disallowed With the score 0-1, Italy was still well served at the second break, as Lauris Darzins and Martins Dzierkals each missed the Latvians' second goal with two aluminum hits. As clear as the balance of power on the ice seemed, Italy was by no means without a chance that afternoon. The best proof came from Alex Petan, who hit the mark in the 42nd minute and suddenly made winning the first point seem very close - until the Latvian bank demanded video evidence. Ultimately, the wonderfully scored goal was canceled due to an offside position in the previous pass from Daniel Frank to Anthony Bardaro. However, the Blue Team didn't let themselves be defeated and a short time later they had their next chance through Petan. The best Azzurro on the ice failed in the penalty kill with an elegant backhander.

The strong Justin Fazio stopped 43 of 44 shots on goal. © HHOF-IIHF / Andre Ringuette

In the final phase, Italy completely put aside their previous shortcomings in this tournament and now pushed for the equalizer with commitment. However, this did not succeed, on the contrary: after Fazio gave up his place for a sixth field player, Latvia increased the result. Lauris Darzins and Martins Karsums made the final score 3-0 with their empty net goals in the last two minutes of the game.

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After the three defeats at the start, Italy now has a two-day break to fill up their strength reserves. The cold start to the World Cup - almost the entire final preparation phase had to be canceled due to corona - left a clear mark on the Azzurri. The team, coached by substitute coach Giorgio De Bettin, will be looking at new freshness on Thursday against Finland (from 19.15 p.m.). SportNews -Ticker) fight for the next respectable success. Latvia – Italy 3-0 Latvia: Punnenovs (Kalnins); Rubins-Balinskis, Cibulskis-Sotnieks, Freibergs-Kulda, Zile; Darzins-Abols-Daugavins, Roberts Bukarts-Dzerins-Rihards Bukarts, Kenins-Indrasis-Dzierkals, Karsums-Meija-Krastenbergs Coach: Hartley

Italy: Fazio (Fadani); Spornberger-Glira, Casetti-Pietroniro, Marchetti-Miglioranzi, Soracreppa-Gios; Frank-Petan-Miceli, Giliati-Pitschieler-Hochkofler, Frigo-Bardaro-Magnabosco, Deluca-Andergassen-Galimberti Coach: De Bettin

Gates: 1:0 Martins Karsums (32.08), 2:0 Lauris Darzins (58.48), 3:0 Martins Karsums (59.48) The table: Pos Country Games Points 1. Germany 3 9 2. Latvia 3 7 3. Kazakhstan 2 4 4. Finland 2 4 5. USA 2 3 6. Norway 2 3 7. Canada 3 0 8. Italy 3 0

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Italy is scratching the big surprise

Italy's national ice hockey team has confirmed its upward trend at the World Cup and left the host nation Latvia worried about victory until the very last minute of the game.

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