Today at 12:00 p.m. ET, Latvia and Canada faceoff in men's ice hockey quarterfinal action live from the Bolshoy Ice Dome in Sochi as part of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. The game can be live streamed for free here.
Canada has thrived thus far in the tournament and is two wins away from defending its 2010 gold medal from the Vancouver Games while Latvia lost all three of its group games in tight fashion before stunning Switzerland on Tuesday to earn the right to play Canada with a trip to the semifinals up for grabs.
Latvia has made it to the quarterfinals for the first time in five Olympic appearances, and even though the team is playing a back-to-back while the Canadians come in rested, the team is confident that it will have plenty of energy left.
"One of the greatest hockey teams ever to play hockey," forward Kaspars Daugavins, who played in the NHL for the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins, told the IIHF website of the Canadians. "It's going to be really tough for us, but we're going to try to give them a hard time. You never know. Miracles have happened before."
The Latvians enter under Buffalo Sabres interim head coach Ted Nolan and the lone representative on the team that currently plays in the NHL is also from the Sabres in Zemgus Girgensons, who has 17 points through 56 games off of five goals and 12 assists.
Canada will once again turn to Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price, who played the first and last game for Canada in Group B, but wasn't tested much as he made 33 saves over the two games he played. Coach Mike Babcock is turning to Price once more, after Price was sharp in Canada's 2-1 overtime victory over Finland on Sunday that clinched Group B for the Canadians.
"I'm actually just trying to do the same thing I do in Montreal," Price told NHL.com about his game plan between the pipes. "You're not getting as many shots, but whenever they're in the zone you just try and find that zone that you're in regularly as when you're facing 30, 35 shots."
Price is 26-17-5 through 48 games for Montreal this season with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage.
Babcock has switched his lineup around multiple times as he looks to find the right pair to join captain and Pittsburgh Penguin Sidney Crosby on the top line, who leads the NHL with 78 points and 50 assists while adding 28 goals.
The winner of this game takes on the winner of the United States and Czech Republic game that will occur simultaneously.
Canada and Latvia go head-to-head with each looking to advance to the semifinals when the puck drops at the Bolshoy Ice Dome today as part of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
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