Group C has been just as predictable and unpredictable as expected beforehand. Team USA is running away with the bye, but Denmark, Germany, and Latvia all have one win each after Denmark beat Latvia 4-2. 
 
"It was nice to finally get a win here, it gives us confidence. We’ve played two great games, and even though our performance maybe wasn’t our best here, it was enough. Of course, we have a goalie who gives us a chance to win," Denmark forward Mikkel Aagaard said. 

Nick Olesen scored two and added an assist for Denmark, Frederik Andersen made 31 saves. Latvia’s Eduards Tralmaks picked up two points. 

"It was a tough game, like everyone, we had a back-to-back so we had a short rest. Guys tried to empty the tank a little bit to get a good result today and I'm happy with the win and obviously our primary goal was to get the three points to put ourselves in a good position for whatever comes next," added Danish goaltender Andersen. 
 
"We knew it was going to be hard game. They have great players there, NHL guys, guys that play in top European leagues and are top scorers in their teams. We wanted it, but there were a couple of bounces that went their way and we were down 3-0. We kept fighting. We almost came back, but almost doesn’t count," said Latvia captain Kaspars Daugavins.

Latvia came to the game riding a high of rallying from behind to beat Germany while the Danes had faced USA less than 24 hours earlier when they put up a good fight but lost 6-3. 
 
“We haven't got the results we wanted and even expected. There will be a new chance tomorrow," Denmark's Olesen said after the US game. 
 
He didn’t just talk the talk; he also walked the walk. Just like in the game against the Americans, Olesen scored in his first shift. Today it was also the first shift of the game as coach Mikael Gath had decided to open the game with the Danes’ third line with Olesen, Oscar Moelgaard and Mikkel Aagaard. 
 
With the puck in Latvia’s zone, Olesen forechecked hard, and got his stick enough in front of a Latvian defender’s pass that it landed at Aagaard’s feet. He reacted quickly and fired a hard pass to the front of the net and Olesen deflected it into give Denmark an early lead after just 23 seconds of play. 
 
Aagaard and Olesen were behind Denmark’s second goal as well, on power play. Olesen had the puck at the hash marks when he tried to get the puck to Joachim Blichfeld in front of the net. Arturs Silovs intercepted the pass, but he also steered the puck to Aagaard who fired it in for 2-0 at 4:54. 
 
It wasn’t a game of finesse, but heart, and getting to the scoring areas was difficult. 
 
With 3:32 remaining in the period, Nikolaj Ehlers set up and scored Denmark’s third goal. Oliver Bjorkstrand carried the puck into the Latvian zone and dropped it to Ehlers at the blueline. Bjorkstrand continued skating around Latvia’s net and he lost his stick. Meanwhile, Ehlers skated deeper, deked a pass, then made a spinorama pass back to Markus Lauridsen on the blueline. The defenseman fired a slapshot which Bjorkstrand redirected to Ehlers with his skate, soccer style, and Ehlers had an easy job to fire it into an open net. 
 
But Latvia is not known to just give up and go home. In their previous game they scored four three unanswered goals to beat Germany 4-2. 
 
With just 16 seconds on the clock, during a delayed penalty, Kristaps Zile deflected Janis Jaks’s slapshot through a lot of traffic. Andersen never had a chance and Latvia pulled within two after the first period. Eduards Tralmaks also picked up an assist. 
 
Latvia had the upper hand in the second period, as they desperately tried to tie the game. Then after an offensive zone faceoff, which Zemgus Girgensons won to Zile who drove deeper into the corner and sent a saucer with such a precision that it landed right on the tape of Tralmaks who tapped it in between two Danish defenders for 3-2 at 6:47.
 
For Denmark, the third period was a matter of survival. Latvia sent in waves of attacks and had puck possession. All in all, Latvia fired 12 shots in the period but Andersen, with the help of Danish defense and the goal posts, kept the puck out of the net. 
 
Latvia pulled Silovs for an extra skater with two and a half minutes left and Denmark’s Olesen fired a 55-meter wrist shot into an empty Latvian net to seal the final score, 4-2.

"I wasn't sure it was going to go in, I just spun around and took a shot, but I have a pretty good idea where the net is on the ice," said Olesen with a smile. 

"It’s always hard to play back-to-back games and we gave a lot yesterday| and I don’t think it was us in the first period, at least the first 15 and it cost us the game. We have to tighten up the first period, play with the right mindset and play our structure," Silovs concluded.