Ice Hockey IIHF World Championships 2017

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UNDER 20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

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Switzerland - Denmark  5-4 after GWS

 

 

 

 

 

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UNDER 20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

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Switzerland - Denmark  5-4 after GWS

 

Swiss shoot down Danes

Danish loss forces Finns to play relegation

 

Switzerland rallied from a three-goal deficit to beat Denmark 5-4 in a shootout. This means Finland must play relegation and will not repeat as champions.

 

Finland has achieved an unfortunate first. It is the first time in World Junior history that a nation has won World Junior gold one year and played in the relegation round the next year.

Swiss forward Marco Miranda scored the only goal in the shootout to give his team the win. Switzerland outshot Denmark 53-22 and showed a never-say-die attitude. Danish goalie Kasper Krog was heroic in defeat.

In regulation, Fabian Zehnder scored twice for Switzerland, and Nico Hischier and Nando Eggenberger added singles for Switzerland. Jonas Siegenthaler had two helpers.

 

Regardless, the Danes have made the final eight for the third straight year. They’ve proved that taking them lightly is a mistake. Just ask Finland and the Czech Republic: here in Montreal, Denmark has defeated both of them for the first time in World Junior history.

But there's still some maturing for Denmark to do. The ability to clamp down on a big lead is an important key to success, and they blew leads of 3-0 and 4-1 versus Switzerland.

 

Danish captain Alexander True and Mathias From tallied a goal and an assist apiece. Joachim Blichfeld and Niklas Andersen added singles. Oliver Gatz had two assists.

 

The Danes drew first blood just 20 seconds in. Gatz’s point shot hit a leg in front and the puck bounced to True, who beat Swiss starter Joren van Pottelberghe high to the glove side.

 

At 3:45, Denmark went up 2-0. Again, Gatz shot from the point and Blichfeld, standing in front, deflected in his third goal of the tournament.

Denmark’s Morten Jensen was assessed a two-minute minor and 10-minute misconduct for a hit to the head of Siegenthaler. However, the Swiss didn’t test Krog, apart from a stiff Damien Riat one-timer from the left faceoff circle.

 

On Denmark’s first power play, Andersen gave Denmark a 3-0 lead at 13:40 with his one-timer set up by Mathias From.

 

Hischier gave the Swiss life with 2:04 left in the first, getting loose in front to bang in the rebound from Riat’s point shot past Danish goalie Kasper Krog. It was his second goal of these World Juniors.

 

Denmark stalled Switzerland's momentum with yet another early-period goal. At 0:28 of the second, From made it 4-1, executing a fabulous curl-and-drag move and firing high on the rush. It was the second goal in as many games for the 19-year-old Chicago Blackhawks prospect. He got the 3-2 overtime winner versus the Czechs after missing the first two games due to injury.

 

The Swiss refused to cave. At 6:29, Zehnder cut the Danish lead to 4-2, scoring with a backhand deke on a breakaway. Defenceman Nico Gross, one of just two 2000-born players in this tournament along with Sweden's Rasmus Dahlin, earned his first World Junior point with an assist.

Less than six minutes later, Eggenberger cut the Danish lead to one, popping a rebound over Krog to cap off a rush.

In the third period, Switzerland made it 4-4, as an onrushing, unchecked Zehnder slammed home his own rebound from the slot at 3:35.

At 7:35, the Swiss thought they'd taken their first lead of the game when Riat tried to jam the puck over the line during a goalmouth scrum. However, the play was video-reviewed and the goal was nullified. Swiss coach Christian Wohlwend gave his team an animated lecture during the lengthy review.

Overtime solved nothing, although the Swiss dominated the play and defenceman Serge Weber nearly won it in the final minute. 

 

Swiss captain Calvin Thurkauf did not play against Denmark. He was serving a one-game suspension for a slew-foot on Swedish defenceman Rasmus Dahlin. In Thurkauf’s absence, Riat wore the “C” for Switzerland. Thurkauf is eligible to return for the quarter-finals.

 

[intoronto 6,941]

Wow

 

Part of me wants to see Slovakia lose, that way one of the bigger nations are relegated. 

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Thats just unreal how we are weak this year. Pathetic...it´s 3 hours morning here and it´s so incredibly painful and sad to watch our kids...very very bad year

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Thanks god !!! Slovakia remains one of the 7 countries ( ) which was never relegated from Under 20 top division. since our first entry in top dividion as independant country in 1996 we are still here, and next year we will play for the 22nd time in a row among the juniors world elite.     

 

Also finally we can listen our national anthem !!!!

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also it´s official CAN, USA, RUS, SVK, SWE, DEN, CZE and SUI advance for the quarterfinals and are automatically qualified for the next years top division championships.

 

Finland and Latvia will battle in a best of 3 matches relegation round serie.

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UNDER 20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

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Slovakia - Latvia  4-2

 

 

 

 

 

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UNDER 20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

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Slovakia - Latvia  4-2

 

Slovakia avoids Finns

Latvia loses, 4-2, moves to daunting relegation

 

 

Slovakia played its best and most inspired game of the tournament, putting 36 pucks on net and skating to a crucial 4-2 win over Latvia.

 

The win gives the Slovaks three points in the Group B standings and means tomorrow's game against Russia (also with three points) doesn't have relegation-round implications.

 

The Latvians have finished the group stage with no wins and zero points and will now face Finland in a best-of-three relegation-round series. 

 

"It was a tough start," captain Erik Cernak admitted, "but we played really well after that. We dominated, really. We were stronger on the puck and pressured them a lot. We knew we had to win. I'm very happy right now."

 

"They were the better team," affirmed Latvian captain Kristaps Zile. "We can do better, and we'll keep our heads high. Finland is a great team, but it's not impossible to beat them. We'll do our best."

 

It was a big game on the calendar all along, but soon after the opening faceoff it got even bigger. It was about that time that Switzerland defeated Denmark in a shootout in Group A in Montreal, sending Finland to the relegation round.

 

"We were watching the game before we went out and during the first period as well," said Milos Roman, who was dominant tonight with a goal and an assist. "We knew if we won tonight, we'd be in the quarter-finals, which was our ambition all along."

 

That, in turn, meant that the loser of today’s game at the ACC would face the daunting task of having to defeat last year’s gold medallists twice in three tries to avoid being relegated for 2018. Slovakia responded, peppering two Latvian goalies with 36 shots while surrendering only 24.

 

Latvia struck first, scoring just 3:40 into the game when a Karlis Cukste point shot drifted and dipped as it reached the net. The trajectory fooled Adam Huska and it slipped through his pads and in.

 

"That was their first shot on goal" Milos Roman said, "so we weren't nervous at all at that point. We knew we'd be the better team, and we scored soon after."

 

Indeed, four and a half minutes later the Slovaks got the equalizer thanks to some hustle by Milos Roman. Goalie Mareks Mitens had played the puck behind the net, leaving it for defenceman Tomass Zeile, but Roman pressured Zeile into making a bad pass.

 

The puck came right to Filip Lestan, and he found the net before Mitens had a chance to get square in the crease.

 

Most of the second was dominated by the Slovaks, who were the more determined side. They got to the loose pucks, moved up ice with confidence, and generated double the shots of the Latvians. 

 

It wasn’t until 18:11 that they were rewarded, though. Milos Roman won a faceoff in the Latvian zone and went to the net. A point shot by Michal Roman was blocked in front, but Milos knocked in the rebound to give Slovakia a huge 2-1 lead heading to the dressing room.

 

"I won the faceoff and my brother took a quick shot from the point. Our wingers checked their men, leaving some space in front for me when the puck came free," Milos described.

 

Continuing where they left off, the Slovaks added a third goal just 41 seconds into the third off a point shot from Andrej Hatala that beat Mitens cleanly.

 

They got an insurance goal at 5:01 on another long shot, this from Milos Roman, that was redirected by a Latvian player in front of the goalie to make it 4-1.

 

Latvia had a two-man advantage later on, converting at 13:29 as Filips Buncis swatted home a loose puck from the crease, but it was too little too late.

 

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UNDER 20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

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Switzerland - Denmark  5-4 after GWS

HIGHLIGHTS

 

 

 

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UNDER 20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

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Slovakia - Latvia  4-2

HIGHLIGHTS