The Winter Olympics keep rolling on, with the Men’s Hockey tournament playing its second group pool games. Latvia was looking to bounce back from its 5-1 loss to the USA in its first game of the Olympic Games. Germany, on the other hand, was looking to continue their winning success after beating Denmark 3-1 to kick off their group pool play. In the end, Latvia claimed its first win of the 2026 Winter Games, defeating Germany 4-3. What stood out from the game that has shaken up Group C?
Takeaway #1: Latvia Bounces Back Following Loss to USA
Latvia was looking to get back on the right foot, or skate in this instance, after a tough loss to the USA on Thursday, Feb. 12. After being down 2-1 after the first period, it seemed Latvia was in a better place to stay in the game against Germany. They went on to rip off three straight goals, going from down 2-1 to up 4-2 on Germany. They scored one goal in the second period, with Dans Locmelis scoring the tying goal after some great puck movement from Rudolfs Balcers and Uvis Janis Balinskis.
Related: Guide to the 2026 Winter Olympics Men’s Hockey Tournament
Locmelis also scored the first Latvian goal to tie the game back in the first period as well. His two goals kept the Latvians in the game at 1-1 and 2-2. After that, the rest of the team led the way. Zemgus Girgensons had two assists in the game, setting up the 1-1 and the 3-2 goals for Latvia, giving him a multi-point game as well, alongside Locmelis.
Arturs Silovs got the win after stopping 26 of 29 shots from Germany for an .896 save percentage (SV%). The win puts Latvia in second place in Group C with three points. While they have a minus-3 goal differential to Germany’s plus-1, they own the head-to-head due to the win.
Takeaway #2: Germany Needs More from Top Players
Regarding Germany, after winning 3-1 over Denmark on Thursday, they now see themselves third in Group C following the loss to Latvia. While they outshot Latvia 29-22 and had a 2-1 lead at one point, they need more from their star players to take over games. Lukas Kalble was the only German player to have a multi-point game with a goal and an assist. Leon Draisaitl’s lone point in the game came on Tim Stutzle‘s goal, which, at the time, made it a 4-3 game.
Related: Latvia’s Men’s 2026 Olympic Hockey Roster
Philipp Grubauer stopped 18 of 22 shots to finish with an .818 SV% in the loss. Their next game is against the USA, and depending on how they play Denmark, Germany could be in an uphill battle to close out the group games. A win against Denmark helps, but a loss to Latvia puts them in a precarious position.
Stutzle and Draisaitl both have three points through two games, both coming with one goal and two assists. They need the team to help out as well, but those two are going to have to dig deep to help Germany try to secure a better placement for the knockout stages. Furthermore, goaltending needs to step up if they want to get far in the bracket play to reach a medal game.
Takeaway #3: Where Do Both Teams Go From Here?
Now that the dust has settled, Latvia has put itself in a good spot in Group C after the win. Their next game is on Sunday, Feb. 15, against Denmark to close out their Group C games. The hope for them is that they carry the momentum from the win over Germany and get the best second-place team group slot for the bye to begin bracket play.
Germany’s next game is also on Sunday against the USA. They’re in the last game of the group play, and if they want a better matchup, they will have to dig deep against one of the best teams in the Olympics.
It’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out, but Latvia keeps showing how, despite being the underdogs in what seems like every international tournament, they continue to shock the world. A win over Germany sets them up well moving into the last Group C game. Now they just need to take care of business against Denmark to take the momentum into the knockouts. For Germany, it’s gut-check time after the loss.
