Latvian legionnaires: Siksna scores in Kazakhstan Cup, Kulda posts a goal and assist in Czech clash
Several Latvian hockey players stood out abroad in recent days, from Kazakhstan Cup action to pre-season friendlies in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Switzerland.
In the Kazakhstan Cup, defenceman Edgars Siksna put his club Karaganda Saryarka ahead midway through the third period, but the team still fell to Atyrau Beibarys 3:4. Saryarka had previously won two shootouts, and with five points from three games the club currently tops its five-team group, from which the top two sides advance to the semi-final. Siksna now has a goal and an assist in the tournament.
In a pre-season friendly in Switzerland's second-tier league, La Chaux-de-Fonds twice came back to level the score but lost 3:4 in overtime to Visp. Tom Anderson scored twice for the losing side.
In an all-Latvian meeting, Czech second-league champions Jihlava Dukla, featuring Edgars Kulda and Patriks Ozols, beat Extraliga side Mlada Boleslav, who include Fēlikss Gavars, 4:3 in overtime. Boleslav scored just five seconds into the game and rallied twice during regulation. Kulda contributed a goal and an assist, first making it 2:1 himself and later setting up a power-play goal that made it 3:2.
Karlovy Vary Energie, whose roster includes Roberts Mamčics and Haralds Egle, overturned a two-goal deficit in a friendly to beat lower-league Sokolov Banik 6:3. Defenceman Mamčics assisted on the team's final goal.
Another all-Latvian matchup came in a Slovak Extraliga friendly, where Michalovce Dukla defeated Spišska Nova Ves 2:1. On the winning side, Kristofers Bindulis took two penalty minutes, while on the opposing team Raimonds Vītoliņš recorded four shots and a minus-one rating.
Germany's Bremerhaven, whose goaltending coach is Edgars Lūsiņš, played without goalkeeper Kristers Gudļevskis in the lineup and lost 2:4 to Switzerland's Lausanne.
