Ice Hockey IIHF World Championships 2017

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WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

 

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Preliminary Round

DAY 9

 

Group A
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

Italy 1 - 4 Germany
Period-by-Period: 1-2, 0-2, 0-0
May 13th 2016, h. 20:15, LANXESS Arena, Cologne

 

Germany eases to win

Host eyes QF, Italy close to relegation

 

Leon Draisaitl settled into the 2017 World Championship with an assist to help Germany beat Italy on his first appearance in the competition in Cologne.

 

Germany moves on to a likely final day showdown against Latvia after a comfortable victory over Italy put the host nation right back in the race for a quarter-final spot.

 

Marco Sturm’s team was lifted by the addition of three players. Patrick Hager returned after a two-game suspension, Philipp Grubauer dressed as the second goalie as Thomas Greiss struggles with injury and, most important of all, Leon Draisaitl made his first start of the competition after flying in from Edmonton during the week.

 

Draisaitl, a Cologne native, is rated as perhaps the finest talent his country has produced. Here, he quickly established an understanding with Christian Ehrhoff that saw the German captain transformed into a marauding blue-linerduring the first period.

 

In the opening exchanges he took a Draisaitl pass and wove his way through the defence before Andreas Bernard stopped him. Moments later he exchanged passes with Germany's new recruit before firing home the opening goal from inside the left circle.

 

Draisaitl, who was later voter Germany's best player of the game, said afterwards: "I felt OK. I'm not at 100%, but there are no excuses. I wanted to come here and help the team and I thought this was a decent start for me.

 

"It's a different type of hockey here so it can take a while to get adjusted, but I know I'll get better from game to game."

 

Even after Italy tied the game – within a minute, as Simon Kostner’s pass sent Michele Marchetti off to the races and the forward shot through Danny aus den Birken – the Ehrhoff-Draisaitl combination continued to generate pressure with Ehrhoff going close again midway through the session. The squadra azzurra managed just two first-period shots as Germany dominated, and the only surprise was that it took until the 19th minute for the host nation to move in front once again.

 

That goal came on the power play – Italian indiscipline hurting the team yet again – and saw Matthias Plachta fire home the rebound from Dennis Seidenberg’s slap shot.

 

Early in the middle stanza, Germany killed the game off with two quick goals, both involving Yannic Seidenberg. First he was the beneficiary of a Frank Hordler rush that left two D-men floundering; the feed set up Seidenberg to smash home a shot from the left circle.

 

Then he turned provider, steering the rebound from Dominik Kahun’s shot back for his team-mate to score at the second attempt.

 

For Italian D-man Thomas Larkin it was another of those frustrating lapses that have hurt his team so badly in this competition.

 

"I thought we had a lull in the second period that cost us," he said. "We are a little banged up right now. We are missing three of our really good forwards and a defenseman. Still, we are proud of our efforts ands played all the way to the end and never let go."

 

Italy saw a chance to get back into contention during when Dennis Seidenberg took a double-minor midway through the game. But apart from Marco Insam rattling the piping with a 140kph effort, the men in blue did little to trouble aus den Birken.

 

The third period played out in front of a jubilant home crowd of 18,712 - whose noise was appreciated by Draisaitl - but produced no further scoring.

 

Germany’s win moves it to nine points, level with Latvia as the teams straddle fourth and fifth place. Tuesday’s head-to-head clash between the two looks set to determine the final qualifier for the knock-out phase.

 

"The next game is the most important for us," Draisaitl added. "I will be a tight game, it will be a battle, but we will make sure we are ready to go."

 

Italy, meanwhile, with just one point from six games, is close to relegation back to Division I and needs a regulation-time win against Denmark on Monday to keep hopes alive.

 

 

 

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Preliminary Round

DAY 9

 

Group B
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

Canada 2 - 3OT  Switzerland
Period-by-Period: 2-0, 0-0, 0-2, OT: 0-1
May 13th 2016, h. 20:15, AccorHotels Arena, Paris

 

Group B Provisional Standing After Day 9

 

Nation	P	W(OTW)	L(OTL)	GF	GA	+/-	Pt.
Canada	5	4(0)	1(1)	22	8	+14	13
Switzerland	5	4(2)	1(1)	17	10	+7	11
Czech Republic	5	4(2)	1(0)	17	9	+8	10
Finland	5	3(1)	2(1)	15	15	0	9
Norway	5	2(0)	3(2)	10	10	0	8
France	5	3(2)	2(0)	17	13	+4	7
Belarus	6	1(0)	5(1)	11	24	-13	4
Slovenia	6	0(0)	6(1)	12	32	-20	1

 

 

 

 

 

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2017

 

 

 

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Preliminary Round

DAY 9

 

Group B
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

Canada 2 - 3OT  Switzerland
Period-by-Period: 2-0, 0-0, 0-2, OT: 0-1
May 13th 2016, h. 20:15, AccorHotels Arena, Paris

 

Herzog the hero!

Swiss come back to beat Canada in OT

 

Fabrice Herzog scored twice, including the overtime winner at 3:40, as Switzerland rallied from a 2-0 first-period deficit to stun Canada 3-2 on Saturday.

 

Herzog's winner was a magnificent individual effort. On the left side, the 22-year-old Worlds rookie winger from ZSC Lions pushed the puck past Canadian defenceman Chris Lee, chased it down, and zipped a backhander over Canadian goalie Calvin Pickard's right shoulder.

Vincent Praplan added a goal and an assist for the Swiss, who ended Canada's streak of regulation wins at this tournament at four straight.

"We didn’t quit working," said Switzerland's Andres Ambuhl. "We always believed. We threw pucks at the net all night, and then finally it bounced in. We got a little bit lucky, but we don’t care. A win is a win."

Ryan O’Reilly and Mitch Marner scored for Canada. Newcomers on the blue line also contributed, as Lee (Metallurg Magnitogorsk) got an assist for the second straight game, while Colton Parayko (St. Louis Blues) made his Team Canada debut and had a helper as well.

Shots favored Canada 45-26, and Swiss goalie Leonardo Genoni was excellent after taking over from ex-NHLer Jonas Hiller early in the first period.

It was an emotional, physical tilt, and this has to be a huge morale-booster for a Swiss team that hasn't played consistent hockey in Paris, but showed real grit against the two-time defending champions.

"We just stuck to it," said Simon Bodenmann. "We didn’t give up after the bad start. We didn't plan on that, of course. We gave up two early goals but we just kept going, stuck to our plan, and scored two quick goals in the third period."

 

Switzerland has given Canada trouble in recent years, with the 2-0 win at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy being the most infamous example. This was just the third Swiss win over Canada in 30 all-time meetings at the Worlds, the others being a 4-1 decision in 2010 and a 3-2 shootout victory in 2012.

"They never quit," said Canada's Travis Konecny. "We kind of got away from our game a bit. We should have gotten more pucks to the net. We had a little bit more to give and we gave them opportunities and they took advantage."

 

With Tyson Barrie injured and out for the tournament, Canadian coach Jon Cooper placed the big-bodied Parayko of the St. Louis Blues alongside Marc-Edouard Vlasic on the top defence pairing. Meanwhile, Swiss coach Patrick Fischer sat forward Denis Malgin, pointless through four games in his first Worlds, in favor of the speedy Reto Suri.

 

Deafening chants of “Hopp Schwiiz!” resounded at the puck drop, and it was a fired-up atmosphere with 12,932 fans at the AccorHotels Arena. Hiller got just his second start since the 5-4 shootout win over Slovenia to open the tournament.

 

The Canadians dominated the first period, outshooting Switzerland 16-6. They got the first power play after Denis Hollenstein was sent off for throwing a retaliatory hit in the offensive zone, and took just 31 seconds to click. O’Reilly, parked to the left of Hiller’s crease, banged in his own rebound for his third of the tournament.

 

At 6:28, it was 2-0 Canada when Marner, from close range, backhanded the puck in off Swiss defenceman Roman Loeffel’s legs. That was it for Hiller, and in came Genoni.

 

The Swiss tried to fight back in the scoreless second period, but Pickard was there to meet the challenge, such as when he stopped Loeffel’s center point blast through traffic.

"They kept going and going, but we pushed against them and our goalie was great," said Ambuhl.

In the third period, Switzerland finally broke through. On the power play, Praplan thwacked the puck in front and Herzog burst off the goal line to backhand one over Pickard's shoulder at 6:37. Finally the Swiss fans had something to cheer about, and "Hopp Schwiiz!" resounded anew, accompanied by jubilant literal hopping.

The place exploded with joy when Praplan notched the equalizer at 9:44. Pickard misplayed the shot off the rush from the right boards, deflecting it into the net off his blocker arm for Praplan's third of these Worlds.

Jacked up, the Swiss kept coming, with great chances for Herzog and Hollenstein. Switzerland's Dean Kukan took an ill-advised cross-checking penalty on Chris Lee with less than four minutes left, giving Canada a huge opportunity. But MacKinnon took a minor for interference at the Swiss blue line that ended it, and it was Switzerland's turn to go 5-on-4. Still, there was nothing doing.

Canada had the better chances in overtime, but Herzog delivered the coup de grace.

"They had the puck way more than we did in the overtime but then one shot, and that’s all it takes," said Bodenmann.

 

Both nations will finish up their group slate versus 2016 silver medalists Finland, Switzerland on Sunday and Canada on Tuesday.

 

 

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Preliminary Round

DAY 9

 

Group A
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

Latvia 3 - 5 United States
Period-by-Period: 1-0, 2-3, 0-2
May 13th 2016, h. 12:15, LANXESS Arena, Cologne

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

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MEN'S

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2017

 

 

 

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Preliminary Round

DAY 9

 

Group B
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

Norway 2 - 3OT  Finland
Period-by-Period: 1-0, 0-2, 1-0, OT: 0-1
May 13th 2016, h. 12:15, AccorHotels Arena, Paris

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

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2017

 

 

 

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Preliminary Round

DAY 9

 

Group A
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

Russia 6 - 0 Slovakia
Period-by-Period: 3-0, 2-0, 1-0
May 13th 2016, h. 16:15, LANXESS Arena, Cologne

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

[hckošice 13,260]

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2017

 

 

 

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Preliminary Round

DAY 9

 

Group B
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

Slovenia 2 - 5 Belarus
Period-by-Period: 2-1, 0-4, 0-0
May 13th 2016, h. 16:15, AccorHotels Arena, Paris

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

[hckošice 13,260]

MEN'S

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Preliminary Round

DAY 9

 

Group A
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

Italy 1 - 4 Germany
Period-by-Period: 1-2, 0-2, 0-0
May 13th 2016, h. 20:15, LANXESS Arena, Cologne

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

[hckošice 13,260]

MEN'S

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Preliminary Round

DAY 9

 

Group B
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

Canada 2 - 3OT  Switzerland
Period-by-Period: 2-0, 0-0, 0-2, OT: 0-1
May 13th 2016, h. 20:15, AccorHotels Arena, Paris

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

[hckošice 13,260]

MEN'S

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Preliminary Round

DAY 10

 

Group A
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

Slovakia vs United States
Period-by-Period:
May 14th 2016, h. 16:15, LANXESS Arena, Cologne

 

Spoiler

 

Denmark vs Sweden
Period-by-Period:
May 14th 2016, h. 20:15, LANXESS Arena, Cologne

 

Spoiler

 

Group B
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

France vs Czech Republic
Period-by-Period:
May 14th 2016, h. 16:15, AccorHotels Arena, Paris

 

Spoiler

 

Switzerland vs Finland
Period-by-Period:
May 14th 2016, h. 20:15, AccorHotels Arena, Paris

 

Spoiler