Features

Another day of good competitive hockey with 3 of the 4 winners edging out plucky opponents

 

 

 

In a scrappy first period Latvia took the lead on the power play at 16.17 when Janis Sprukts scored after taking a pass from Antipans. This was his second goal in two games and he looked fairly pleased with himself. That was it for the first period but with Conklin in the US goal saving 16 shots, USA will be happy with only a one-goal deficit.

 

Latvia was unhappy with the ref midway through the second when he washed out a goal when Nizivijs appeared to stuff the puck past Conklin’s short side. The ref ruled no goal but the Latvians were more unhappy that he refused to go upstairs to the video ref to confirm.

This dampened the Latvian resolve somewhat and USA crept back into the game and equalised through Doug Weight at 133.36 on a backhand chip with an assist to Erik Cole.

 

It was all USA in the third and Mark Parrish scored at 47.44 to give the US the lead.  An empty netter by the same player in the last second of the game made the final score 3-1. A deserved win for Team USA who dominated the second and third periods.

 

 

 

Canada demolished a very poor Slovenian side with goals from Thornton x 2, Morrison x 2, Maltby, Gagne, Nash and Smith.  This game was totally dominated by Canada who outshot their opponents 56-12 and Luongo, probably playing his only game in this championship had only 1 real save to make.

 

 

Group Preliminary B

R	Team	GP	W	T	L	GF:GA	GDF	PTS
1	CAN	2	2	0	0	14:4	10	4
2	USA	2	2	0	0	10:1	9	4
3	LAT	2	0	0	2	5:9	-4	0
4	SLO	2	0	0	2	0:15	-15	0

 

 

Tonight’s results confirm the big two into the next round and Thursday’s game between the two is for bragging rights and top seed position in the group.  Latvia now play Slovenia for the 3^rd qualifying spot and on results so far should not have any problems.

 

 

 

The top game of the night did not disappoint a capacity crowd in Vienna as the Germans put in a much-improved performance to restrict the free scoring Czechs to 2 goals.

 

The Czechs scored 3 goals on the power play in their first game and it took only 16.17 of the first period for them to make their mark again on the PP. Pavel Kubina scoring on a low one-timer from centre point through Muller’s legs.  The Czechs looked the stronger side in the first and Muller made superb back-to-back saves on Prucha and Sykora and again denying Rucinsky one on one towards the end of the period.

 

Germany were more in the game in the second and NHL’er Jochen Hecht had a good early chance when he charged the Czech net, but Vokoun made a good glove save to keep his net intact. Germany also missed chances when on a minute and a half 5 on 3 in the period. The period finished with a wrister from Kreutzer pinging the inside of the post with Vokoun well beaten.  End of period still 1-0 rather luckily for the Czechs.

 

The third was an end-to-end affair early on and it seemed a special effort was needed to alter the score. This eventually happened at 53.51 when Petr Sykor came out of the right corner, pulled to the net and stood his ground, committing Muller to ground and knocked in the shot.

 

A deserved win for the Czech Republic, but Germany recovered a lot of pride and will go into their crucial game with Switzerland on Thursday with renewed hope. Downside for the Czechs is an injury to Jaromir Jagr who has broken the little finger on his left hand, although early reports on Wednesday morning indicate he will play on after refusing surgery and having the finger stabilised instead.

 

 

 

This was the Vitaliy Kolesnik show as the Kazakh goalie stopped 35 of 37 shots as the Swiss edged to a 2-1 victory.

 

Kazakhstan took an early lead on 6.37 when Litvinenko came in from the right point and hit the slapshot over Gerber’s glove side.  Switzerland evened the game at 10.23 on the PP with a good individual goal from Patrick Fischer. He skated unobstructed along the goal line and surprisingly tucked the puck between Kolesnik’s wide-open legs rather than going behind the net.

 

The second period stagnated a bit with Switzerland having the better chances. Kolesnik continued to stand on his head with great saves from Streit, a Della Rossa – DiPietro two on one and another big drive from Streit. No goals in the second and score remains unchanged at 1-1.

 

The game was decided at 44.14 when Wichser passed from behind the net to Jeannin who one timed it inside the post for the winner.

 

A good win for Switzerland as Kazakhstan were denied the luck they got in their first game. This gives a definite possibility of a 3-way tie for 2^nd place in the group. This might explain why the Kazakh coach did not pull the goalie and try to tie the game late on as goal difference is the first decider on positions.

 

 

Group Preliminary D

R	Team	GP	W	T	L	GF:GA	GDF	PTS
1	CZE	2	2	0	0	5:1	4	4
2	KAZ	2	1	0	1	3:3	0	2
3	SUI	2	1	0	1	3:4	-1	2
4	GER	2	0	0	2	1:4	-3	0

 

 

Czech Republic confirms their place in round 2 but the other two places are up for grabs. With Kazakhstan playing the Czech Republic they should struggle to get any other points. Switzerland v Germany should be a classic with the winner going through and the Swiss could even make it if they do not lose too heavily, unless of course the Czechs decide it would be in their best interests if Kazakhstan got through.  Conspiracy theories  ……………….nahhhhhhhhhhhh

 

Wednesday’s games are Russia v Belarus, Austria v Slovakia, Denmark v Ukraine and what could be the best game of the tournament so far when the might Finns take on the “ Tre Krone “

 

 

See you tomorrow