Grand Rapids Griffins forward Eduards Tralmaks, who had the sole goal for Latvia, will be unable to continue his scoring streak as he and the Latvians were defeated 5-1 by Team Sweden behind a three point game from Lucas Raymond. The Latvian Olympic Ice Hockey Team is unfortunately soon to be on their way home after being bounced out of contention in the round-robin style tournament of the Olympics.

 

Time on Ice

Tralmaks was one of Latvia’s leading forwards in ice time once again with 18:33, which was in the top three for Latvia today. Across all four of Latvia’s games, Tralmaks had 71:42 minutes of time on ice, averaging just under 18 minutes per game.

 

Production

Tralmaks recorded the only goal for Latvia today.  However,  Tralmaks will be unable to continue his three game scoring streak, and finishes his time in Milan with four points, two of which came in the matchup with Denmark, where he had a goal and an assist.

https://x.com/nhl/status/2023874299862323617?s=46

 

 

Game Notes

Tralmaks, cut the Swede’s lead to 3-1 with his goal in the second period as the Latvian team was hounded by an NHL laden offense including Gabe Landeskog and William Nylander, who both scored, goals today. The goal on Jakob Markstrom by Tralmaks at the end of the second period was answered to within the first five minutes of the third period.

 

Analysis

Latvia drew the short straw in the Olympics, facing off against a tough pair of teams including Team USA and Team Germany in the first round, performing well in an upset win over the Germans. However, after dropping their game against Denmark, Latvia found themselves facing a Swedish team desperate to keep themselves in the hunt for a gold medal, and lost.

To their credit, the Swedes have far more veteran NHLers than the Latvians, and this Olympics has proven just how much of a difference that can make.

 

Final Notes:

Tralmaks faced off against another member of the Red Wings organization in every game he played this year except for in the game against Denmark. However, Tralmaks is also the only player in the organization to not be in the NHL while currently, Tralmaks leading the Red Wings organization’s Olympic representatives in goal scoring, with three in his four games.