Bellissimo! Italy secures promotion

A victory for either Italy or Hungary in this game would secure promotion back to Pool A, so the stakes were high as in one of the games of the tournament as both sides fought out an incredibly competitive, battling encounter. On the whole Italy had the better of puck possession and offensive zone time, however, Hungary created chance after chance on the rush and looked dangerous. In the opening few minutes of the game, it was the Italians who looked the better side, as an early chance for  Giulio Scandella was gloved by Levente Szuper. However, Italy’s early pressure eventually resulted in a goal, as good work on the forecheck by Italy saw the puck work its way to Vincent Rocco, who from a tight angle, fired a backhand which seemed to go through Szuper and end up crossing the line. However, Hungary seemed to find their way after going behind, and while efforts by Janos Vas and Gergo Nagy were saved by Adam Dennis, an early powerplay chance ended with Hungary equalising. A centering feed was deflected, and the puck trickled to Arpad Mihaly, who stepping from the point hammered a one timer into the top corner of the goal, sending the home fans delirious. With the score at 1:1 six minutes in, Italy continued to have more time on the puck, and Szuper was in fine form once again, getting his pad on a Scandella one timer. It was turning into a physical encounter as well, as neither time shying away from hits, and coincidental roughing penalties for both sides emphasising just how much this match meant to the teams.

The second period continued in the same manner as the first, as Hungary’s counterattacking offence proving dangerous for the Italians. The first chance of the period fell to Robert Sirianni but Szuper flashed the leather to deny the Italian forward. Szuper would also make a quick blocker save to deny Anton Bernard on a 2 on 1. Hungary were given powerplay opportunities in the first, and Mihaly continued to threaten from the point. He wired a wrist shot in the tenth minute of the period while with the man advantage, but this time Dennis was able to make the save. The Hungarian fans were about to jump out of their seats when Mihaly was set up for another one timer with six minutes to go in the period, but Dennis got his body in the way of the puck to keep the game tied at one all.

Neither team wanted to be the one that made the mistake that cost the game in the third period and a cagey affair ensued. Hungary had the best chance of the opening minutes, as just over four minutes in, the ever-threatening Arpad Mihaly cut into the Italian zone and fired a snapshot which Dennis snaffled with no rebound. Eight minutes into the period, great zonal pressure by Hungary generated a scramble opportunity in front of goal but somehow the puck stayed out of the net. Straight away Italy went back up the other end of the ice, and Patrick Iannone’s backhand chance was kicked out by Szuper, but the top seeds came out of the play with a powerplay chance which they would convert on. With only three seconds left on the powerplay, Patrick Iannone got his fourth goal in four games, drifting into the high slot and letting loose a wicked one timer which beat Szuper glove side and giving Italy the lead with nine minutes left. On another Italian powerplay almost instantly, Szuper kept his team in the game with a fantastic pad save to deny Luca Felicetti’s second chance effort. Italy continued their solid defensive play as the clock neared zero, restricting any clear cut Hungarian chances, and while Janos Hari’s wrist shot with two minutes forced a glove save by Adam Dennis, it was a regulation save for the Alleghe netminder to make.

Speaking after the game, Trevor Johnson said, ‘I thought Hungary for the most part played really well. I think they outplayed us for a number of minutes but we hung in there, our goalie played really well. We just had that energy and that desperation. We scored a late powerplay goal and that was the difference’.

A fourth victory in four games mean that on Day 4 of the Division 1A World Championships, Italy secured promotion back to Pool A, while Hungary will have to beat Japan and then hope for an Italian victory over Kazakhstan in order to secure a return to the top tier of international competition. Speaking of Italy’s game against Kazakhstan tomorrow, Johnson added, ‘We want to win everything. We want the gold. We’re not just satisfied with going up, we’re a good team and we should be on top here. I hope tomorrow will be a great game’.

Watch what the Italian capitan Alexander Egger said after the game:

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