Men's Ice Hockey IIHF Division I Group A World Championship 2019

[hckošice 14,822]

 

[ahjfcshfghb 287]

1 hour ago, hckosice said:

DAY 7 HIGHLIGHTS

 

Slovenia 9 - 0 Lithuania
Period-by-Period: 2-0, 4-0, 3-0
May 5th 2019, h. 12:30, Barys Arena, Nur-Sultan

 

What's crazy is Lithuania only had 4 shots less than Slovenia! 

[hckošice 14,822]

Just now, ahjfcshfghb said:

What's crazy is Lithuania only had 4 shots less than Slovenia! 

 

Yeah, they struggled a lot during this tournament with their poor shooting efficiency. Even today they played almost half of the match in power plays but couldn´t score a single goal.

[hckošice 14,822]

Kazakhstan wins gold, Belarus up too

 

 

 

It was the battle of the two undefeated teams for the top spot in their race to promotion and host team Kazakhstan won it, 3-2 in overtime. Thanks to the extra point not only Kazakhstan but also Belarus will be among the top-two teams to earn promotion to the 2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Switzerland.

Kazakhstan already got the news about promotion before the game because Korea, which was chasing the two teams for a top-two spots, surprisingly lost to Lithuania.

“We know what is the main aim – that we can take gold. We started very well with a lot of energy and scored two goals but then we conceded a foolish goal. Belarus scored the second goal in enthusiasm and took the initiative. But then we realized that we can’t lose, got more inspired and then we won,” said Nikita Mikhailis.

 

“It was a very interesting, dramatic game, nervous from both teams. We told the guys that Kazakhstan is very dangerous in the beginning and not let them score the first goal but they got the lead anyway,” said Belarus head coach Andrei Sidorenko. “I’m proud of my guys that they didn’t give up. I’m glad for the team, for all the fans and the country that we will be back in the top division.”

 

The start of the game reminded of the Kazakh national team’s games at Barys Arena before. They used their home-ice advantage in front of 7,418 fans and came out with enthusiasm, energy and many scoring chances. Throughout the game they outshot Belarus 42-17.

After eight minutes the fans got reason to cheer for the first time. Mikhailis found from a short angle the hole in Alexander Osipkov’s net at the close post.

The Kazakhs continued with a power play but couldn’t convert. Once it was over, however, Talgat Zhailauov made it a 2-0 lead after receiving a great horizontal pass through the crease from Yevgeni Rymarev.

“We are very happy, congratulations to all Kazakhstan that the team is finally back to the top division. I liked this game. It was the best game we had in this tournament. We had many opportunities and a very good start but still the problem that we didn’t capitalize on our chances. We want to be better in this aspect,” said Kazakhstan head coach Andrei Skabelka and added:

“I’m happy about the first win in history against Belarus. We wanted this result and we wanted to beat them finally.”

 

In the second period Artyom Demkov gave Belarus some hope back. He got the puck passed back after a face-off on the right side won by Geoff Platt and sent off the shot for his team’s first goal at 6:49. Also due to three Belarusian penalties the Kazakhs were closer to extending the lead than Belarus to tie it up though.

That changed in the third period. At 3:16 Nikita Feoktistov scored after a blind pass from behind the net from Artyom Volkov to tie the game. It was the game-tying goal that gave Belarus the extra point to keep third-placed Korea at distance before the two teams meet tomorrow. Thanks to that Belarus has second place secured and can still hope for the tournament win.

“The best thing about the tournament and this game is that we made it to the top division. It was a nervous game and we should actually win this game, we had a lot of opportunities, but we lost it. The main thing is we made it,” Feoktistov said.

 

The Kazakh national team also won its fifth game of the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A on home ice in Nur-Sultan to end the tournament with a perfect record.

Kazakhstan beat Hungary 3-1 in a tight game in which they outshot their opponent 35-32.

“Hungary started very well and the whole game was very competitive. In the beginning Hungary was very aggressive but then we could take the initiative and play our game. We took every game very serious. We wanted five wins and it happened. All the players were leaders in this championship and we won like one team,” Kazakh national team captain Talgat Zhailauov said.

The Kazakh fans at the Barys Arena were used that their team starts the game like firefighters trying to distinguish a fire. However, the Hungarians had different ideas and for the first time Kazakhstan didn’t get the lead in the first period despite a 11-7 shot-on-goal advantage. The first 20 minutes ended scoreless.

For both teams the game didn’t have any implications for the standings anymore after the results of the previous two games of the day. Kazakhstan would end up as tournament winner anyway since Belarus didn’t get any points. And Hungary was locked in fifth place. Both Kazakhstan and Belarus secured promotion to the 2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship already the day before

That meant Hungary wanted to finish as much on a positive note as Kazakhstan wanted in front of its home crowd.

“The game didn’t matter in the standings, so it was a good test for us to show that we have more pride than we showed in the last game,” said Hungary head coach Gergely Majoross. “Our guys competed for pucks and space. In that regard we took good steps forward. Unfortunately we proved that our scoring efficiency is too low to win a game.”

 

Eventually it was Kazakhstan which opened the score. Once again the goal scorer was Nikita Mikhailis with his fourth marker of the tournament.

Mikhailis got the puck at the red line from Nikita Kleshenko for a breakaway and beat Hungarian goaltender Bence Balizs with a precise shot.

In the third period it was again the Kazakhs who had a great start. During a power play Anton Nekryach scored his team’s second goal after receiving the puck from the end boards from Yevgeni Rymarev.

However, Istvan Sofron brought Hungary back four minutes later with slick skating in the Kazakh defence and a shot that went in through Sergei Kudrayvtsev’s five-hole.

Hungary’s comeback attempt was stopped by a penalty against Gergo Nagy for hooking. And again Rymarev was involved on the successful man advantage, this time as goal scorer. The 3-1 marker with 2:45 left in regulation time sealed Kazakhstan’s fifth win in the fifth game.

“Even though the game didn’t have any influence in the standings, the players played well for the fans and won the game. We showed an interesting game and I’m happy that we are promoted,” said Kazakhstan head coach Andrei Skabelka.

 

Slovenia saved

 

The relegation battle at the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A was decided in the first game of the last day. Slovenia blanked Lithuania 9-0, which means that both Slovenia and Hungary will stay in the group while Lithuania will be have to go back to the Division I Group B.

The Slovenes had an early goal and simply never stopped scoring.

“We finished on a high, that’s good. We prepared like for every game. It was a huge game for us. We gave all we had and we played the best game of the tournament. We made a great defensive job and that also helped us to make more offensive plays,” said Jan Drozg, who scored a hat trick in the game and now leads the tournament in goals with five.

The start was in Slovenia’s favour with a power play. The “lynx” needed two minutes to crack the tight Lithuanian box play and they made it three seconds after. With Daniel Bogdziul coming back from the penalty box, Sabahudin Kovacevic sent a pass to the crease where Robert Sabolic was at the spot to tip the puck in.

With 3:44 left Drozg scored his third of five goal of the tournament. After circling around the Lithuanian defence he beat goaltender Mantas Armalis with a high wrist shot.

“We talked a lot about how important the start of the game is and they’re a tough opponent if they get the lead. For us it was important that we scored the first goal and used our power play. We didn’t let go and played for 60 minutes,” Slovenia head coach Ivo Jan said.

 

The Lithuanians aimed at getting back in the second period but a 2+2 minute penalty for high-sticking against Tadas Kumeliauskas didn’t make things easier. Just when the Lithuanians killed off the penalties, Los Angeles Kings star Anze Kopitar showcased his skills. The Slovenian captain brought the puck between Arvidas Domeika and Dainius Zubrus, then outskated Arturas Katulis in front of the net and beat Armalis with a wrist shot at 8:16. And as if this was not enough, Matic Podlipnik increased the lead to 4-0 just half a minute later with a shot from the blue line.

“Obviously it was our worst game by far. We made way too many mistakes and they made us pay for it. We played much tighter games normally. It’s a young team. More than half of our defensive corps plays with full cages. That’s a huge experience for them. They are our future,” captain Zubrus said.

When asked about the reasons for the breakdown, he answered: “It came altogether. Inexperience, fatigue level. It was not as good of a game we could have played. Altogether I’m so happy with the way we played at this tournament and as a hockey nation we’re growing. It’s a step in the right direction.”

Lithuania head coach Daniel Lacroix took his time-out but the four-goal deficit proved too much. Few minutes later Bostjan Golicic had free way to the net after a pass from Anze Kuralt to make it 5-0. With 31 seconds left in the period the Slovenes outpassed the Lithuanian defence again. Kuralt sent a short horizontal pass in front of the net to Ken Ograjensek on the other side and it was 6-0.

“I really liked our start, at 5-on-5 they played well. The big question mark was would we be able to sustain it after playing a game yesterday at 14:00. Unfortunately we weren’t. We lost momentum, lost the spirit pretty early. We kind of lost ourselves,” Lacroix said. “I’m proud of our guys and the commitment and effort they showed up every game beside today’s game.”

Young netminder Laurynas Lubys came in for the last period but saw himself beaten after nine minutes. Drozg received a pass from behind the net to increase the lead to 7-0. Aleksandar Magovac scored another goal and Drozg completed his hat trick with the 9-0 marker with 59 seconds left.

For Slovenia it was a conciliatory ending after a bad start into the tournament. The team had definitely hoped for more especially with the arrival or their Slovenian idol Anze Kopitar and will finish the tournament in fourth place.

After the game the Ice Hockey Federation of Slovenia announced that it will apply for hosting the 2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A, most probably with Arena Stozice in the capital of Ljubljana.

 

Medals & Awards

After the end of the game the Kazakh team came back to receive their gold medals. Silver went to Belarus, which together with Kazakhstan will be promoted to the 2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Switzerland, while Korea had to settle for the bronze medals.

Individual awards were handed to players from three teams. Matt Dalton of Korea won the tournament directorate’s Best Goaltender award and was also voted all-star goalie by the media.

Darren Dietz of Kazakhstan was the number-one choice as Best Defenceman. His teammate Leonid Metalnikov also made it to the All-Star Team as defenceman.

Geoff Platt of Belarus won the Best Forward award of the directorate. He, Kazakhstan’s Nikita Mikhailis and Sangwook Kim of Korea were voted as the three forwards on the All-Star Team.

Mikhailis was voted Most Valuable Player by the accredited media at in Nur-Sultan.

 

 

IIHF.COM