With Latvia and France both undefeated in the men's Olympic qualifiers entering Sunday, the final game of the tournament between the two countries would be a winner-take-all matchup.
The winner would secure a spot in the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Latvia held on for a 2-1 win to punch a ticket to Beijing, and captain Teddy Blueger had the primary assist on the eventual game-winning goal.
Latvia's Rihards Bukarts opened the scoring with 9:04 remaining in the first period with this goal, capitalizing on a France turnover in its own end:
Latva held onto that 1-0 lead after a scoreless second period.
France took a high-sticking penalty just under five minutes into the third period to put Latvia on the power play. Blueger's pass sprung Miks Indrasis on a partial breakaway, and Indrasis put a backhand shot over the French goaltender's pads:
France's Stephane da Costa responded with 8:45 left in the third period with this shot from the slot to make it a one-goal game:
Blueger took a penalty for holding the stick with 2:04 remaining in the game to put France on the power play for nearly the remainder of the third period. France pulled its goaltender midway through the power play to have a 6-on-4 advantage, but Latvia killed the penalty and held on for the win.
Blueger finished the tournament with two goals, two assists and a plus-2 rating in three games. His late penalty against France was his only infraction of the tournament. Blueger had a 60.56 percent (43-28) success rate in faceoffs, leading Latvia and ranking No. 3 among all players on teams in Group E.
Denmark earned the spot in the Olympics from Group F with a win over Norway, a group that also included Slovenia and South Korea. Slovakia beat Belarus to earn the spot in Group D on Sunday, a group that also included Poland and Austria.
The NHL has a tentative Olympic break factored into its regular-season schedule from Feb. 5 to Feb. 22, but no final agreement has been made on whether NHL players will participate. Negotiations are ongoing between the NHL, NHLPA, IOC, and IIHF, with a primary concern from the NHL being the rising numbers in COVID-19 cases.
