Team Canada squeaks by Latvia in Olympic hockey quarter-finals

SOCHI, Russia – Team Canada has advanced to the men’s hockey semifinals at the Winter Olympics with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Latvia.

Shea Weber scored the winning goal on the power play with just under seven minutes left in the third period of the quarter-final game.

The defending champions will play the United States in the semifinals in a rematch of the gold-medal game four years ago in Vancouver.

The loss tarnished an outstanding performance by 21-year-old Latvian goalie Kristers Gudlevskis, who was brilliant as Canada outshot the Latvians 57-16.

But Gudlevskis couldn’t find Weber’s blast from the point with 6:52 remaining that gave Canada some much-needed breathing room.

The Canadians narrowly missed going ahead just before the midway point of the third but video replay showed the puck didn’t entirely get over the goal-line.

Patrick Sharp had the other goal for Canada.

Lauris Darzins scored for Latvia.

The U.S. beat the Czechs 5-2 in their quarter-final to advance. Earlier, Sweden and Finland advanced to a semifinal showdown with quarter-final wins. The Swedes downed Slovakia 5-0 while the Finns shocked host Russia 3-1.