Worlds Check-In: Vilmanis helps lift Latvia to win over USA

It was a battle between a pair of Florida Panthers on Saturday at the 2026 IIHF World Championship.

Helping lift Latvia to a 4-2 win over the United States, Sandis Vilmanis notched a team-high three points (2G, 1A).

At the other end of the ice, Matthew Tkachuk did everything he could for the Red, White and Blue, racking up a goal and an assist in defeat.

"It's amazing that we got the win," Vilmanis told IIHF.com.

Trailing 1-0 in the second period, Tkachuk tipped in a shot from Oliver Moore on the power play to make it 1-1.

In the third period, Latvia regained the lead when Deniss Smirnovs deposited a slick dish from Vilmanis to make it 2-1.

After Vilmanis extended Latvia’s lead to 3-1 with an empty-net goal with 1:02 remaining in regulation, Mathieu Olivier took a tape-to-tape feed from Tkachuk and scored from the slot to cut USA’s deficit to 3-2 with 51 seconds left.

But just nine seconds later, Vilmanis sent another shot into the abandoned cage to make it 4-2 and shut down USA’s comeback attempt.

Helping keep Tkachuk and the United States at bay, Kristers Gudlevskis amassed 45 saves for Latvia.

After recording five points (3G, 2A) in 19 games with the Panthers this season, Vilmanis has brought that strong play from his NHL debut to the World Championship.

Producing at better than a point-per-game clip, the 22-year-old forward is tied for first on Latvia with six points (2G, 4A) at the tournament.

With the win, Latvia jumped ahead of the United States in the standings and now sits fourth in Group A.

USA, which trails Latvia by one point, has two games left in the group stage against Hungary and Austria.

Latvia, meanwhile, has two games remaining against Great Britain and Hungary.

Only the top four teams from Groups A and B will advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament.

For more information and a full schedule of the World Championship, click HERE.