Hosts Poland remain perfect

18 Apr 2012 | Joeri Loonen

Krynica, Poland - After three rounds of play in Division 1 B, only Poland and Korea have the perfect score. At the other end of the table Australia and Romania remain looking for their first points.

Korea - Romania 6-1 (3-0; 1-0; 2-1)

Boxscore

Like in their previous game against Lithuania, Korea built up their third consecutive win in the opening period. Three first period goals in a 5-minute span gave Korea the safety cushion need to lock the victory.

Although the scoreline looks unbalanced, Romania was certainly not helpeless. But as was the case in their game against the Netherlands, the Romanians pinhed but never struck. In total they only managed to score a single goal from 22 shots.

Korea was far more efficient with 6 tallies from 29 shots.

After Korea had built up a 4-0 lead after 40 minutes, Hyung Joon Kim and Yu Won Lee scored their second goal of the game in the third period before Zsolt Molnar put up Romania's consolation goal with four seconds left to play.

With two games left to play, Romania now needs to get a result against either Lithuania tomorrow or face an all-or-nothing game against Australia on Saturday.

Korea in the meantime have silently becoming an outsider for the gold medal and promotion to Division 1A. They will face Netherlands in a game that can definately secure a silver medal for the Asians.

Australia - Lithuania 2-3 (0-2; 2-1; 0-0)

Boxscore

With three new reinforcements in the line-up, Lithuania were able to record their first win of the tournament. It didn't take long for the new trio to make a name for themselves against the Aussies.

Within the opening 10 minutes, Pijus Rulevicius had scored the opening goal while Darius Pliskauskas and Mindaugas Kieras notched assists on the second goal.

Coming off two defeats and trailing 2-0, Australia was not down and out though. The typical fighting spirit that typifies Australians in any sport almost caused Lithuania to wamble.

After Michael Schlamp and Nerijus Alisauskas had traded goals for each team, Todd Graham brought Australia back within one right at the buzzer. After referee consult, the goal counted and set both teams up for a spirited third period.

The Australians knocked on the door and even pulled their goaltender for an extra skater, but Mantas Armalis kept his team up.

With their first three points in the pocket, Lithuania is not yet secured a spot in this division next season, but it did open up an opportunity to compete for a medal. With Romania coming up tomorrow, Lithuania will be looking to keep up their winning form.

Australia is not likely to cause an upset against hosts tomorrow. Question is whether they will throw the game and fully focus on the game against Romania. It is likely some key players will be rested.

Poland - Netherlands 5-1 (2-0; 1-0; 2-1)

Boxscore

After two comfortable victories against Lithuania and Romania, hosts Poland were up for their first genuine exam of the tournament. Facing another yet unbeaten team The Netherlands, Poland passed the exam with a near perfect mark.

Right from the start Poland took control over the game and throughout the full 60 minutes, never gave it away. Despite being outskated and outshot 19-37, the Dutch will feel bad about the goals conceded. At least three of Poland's five goals were due to a lack of concentration.

Leszek Laszkiewicz opened the scoring when he slotted home his own rebound and 17 seconds later Marcin Kolusz was at the end of a flashing Poland attack on which the Netherlands defence still looked paralyzed by Laszkiewicz' goal.

Down 2-0 and hardly creating any opportunities, the Dutch dug themselves a huge hole when defenceman Bjorn Willemse overhit a back pass on a power play situation. Mikolaj Lopuski was able to pick up the puck and skate in freely on Ian Meierdres to clinically slot it five-hole.

It was history repeating in the third period. Again the Dutch sloppy defending was punished by a more aggressive team Poland when Marcin Kolusz squeeked through two defencemen and made it 4-0 with the second short-handed goal of the game.

Mike Dalhuisen fired home from the blue line to end Przemyslaw Odrobny's shut-out streak, which lasted 173 minutes, before Jaroslaw Rzeszutko capped the scoring 5-1.

While limited on scoring chances, the Dutch did get several quality ones but Odrobny came up big all game long earning him the player-of-the-game award.

With three wins and a goal differential of 24-1, Poland remains the top favourite for promotion. They will be looking to add to their statistics against Australia tomorrow. The Netherlands will have to beat Korea in order to stay in the medal race. Despite today's loss they still have an outside shot at winning gold.

JOERI LOONEN

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