Ukraine 3:4 Great Britain (OT)
Both sides picked up their first points of the tournament in Wednesday's early game, but it was Robert Dowd who led Great Britain to a hugely important overtime win, as the Belfast Giants forward scored a hatrick, including the overtime winner for his country.
The highly organised Ukrainian side got off to a much better start than the British, and outshot them 16:4 in the first period. Stephen Murphy was on his game early in the period, but could not do anything about a point shot that rattled his bar early into the game, and then in the 14th minute of the period, Ukraine finally got the lead they deserved. Olexander Pobyedonostsev fired past Murphy for his third goal in as many games to open the scoring, a margin they would keep for the rest of the period.
The British came out in the second period looking to build on a shaky start. Their luck was in, as Robert Dowd was hooked on a breakaway by Oleg Tymchenko, giving Britain a penalty shot. Dowd was elected to take the shot, and he executed a perfect move to beat Mykhailo Balaban to tie the game. With Owen Fussey in the box, Britain were once again shorthanded, but they would be the ones to find the net. Sheer determination and grit by Matthew Myers saw him stay on his feet after breaking through the two Ukrainian defencemen, and having enough time to compose himself before firing a snapshot top shelf. A little over two minutes later and it was 3:1 Britain. A Robert Dowd shot on a break went high over the bar, but it bounced back to Colin Shields, who knocked it across the crease for a diving Dowd to tap into the goal.
Ukraine were not to be rattled though, and as Britain took more penalties, Ukraine got back into the game. Ukrainian captain Sergi Klymentyev hammered a shot from the point that went through traffic and into Murphy's net, before just 44 seconds later, Pobyedonostsev scored his second goal of the game to level the scores at 3:3 at the end of the second period.
Both teams had chances in the third frame, with the shots seven apiece, and Britain arguably should have done more with their powerplay opportunities, but there would be no score in the third period, sending the game to overtime. Two minutes into the deciding frame, Robert Dowd broke through the neutral zone, and before Balaban could react, had fired a wrist shot from the blue line, which went through the defenceman's legs, and through Balaban, with the puck just trickling over the line, giving Britain their first win of the tournament, and their second over Ukraine in as many years.
Austria 3:4 Japan (Penalty Shots)
In a game which many tipped Austria to win, Japan proved the spoilers of the show, as they put in a great performance against the pre-tournament favourites. Shuhei Kuji scored a hatrick for Japan, as they took two points from the game, whilst Austria, still with their two toughest games ahead of them, will look to rebuild their promotion campaign.
The Austrians had the better chances in the first period, as they restricted Japan only to counter-attacks. Eventually the Austrian dominance would pay off, as a Mario Altmann shot from the left circle found the net.
However, the second period saw Japan battle back. Kuji scored his first through Bernard Starkbaum's five hole whilst on the powerplay five minutes in. The Austrians rallied back to re-take the lead through Stefan Ulmer's deflection, but Japan were not to be deterred, Kuji scoring a wondergoal for his second of the game, deking the defenceman before wristing one past the netminder Starkbaum.
Austria took the lead for the third time in the game in the third frame, as they made the two man advantage on the powerplay count through a point shot by Matthias Trattnig beat everyone including the netminder Yuta Narisawa. However, only 73 seconds later, the Japanese had tied the game once more, Kuji scoring his hatrick following a mix-up in the Austrian defence. The Austrians had outshot the Japanese 38:27, but the game was going the extra mile.
After a scoreless overtime period the game went to penalty shots, Hiroki Ueno and Gregor Baumgartner were denied on their opening shots, before Hiromichi Terao scored on the first shot of the second round, getting a lucky bounce as his attempted deke spilled off his stick and past Starkbaum. However, New York Islanders forward Michael Grabner tied the shootout, showing all of his major league poise, fooling Narisawa and putting the puck into the net. Go Tanaka was the third shooter for Japan, and he used his bag of tricks, with a lovely move onto his backhand and then roofing the puck to give Japan a 2:1 lead. It was all on the final shot of the third round, and Narisawa came up huge, sticking out his pad to parry the puck away to the delight of his teammates, and putting a huge spanner in the works in the battle for promotion.
Slovenia 4:1 Hungary
The final game of the day left the Arena Stozice rocking. A full house, with an estimated 1500-2000 travelling Hungarians stood and sang for the whole game, but it was the hosts who would get the result, as they made their powerplay work to beat the Hungarian side 4:1.
It was a game littered with penalties, with the smallest of infractions being whistled. Slovenia outshot Hungary 12:11 in the first period, with both netminders being forced to make a number of top quality saves. The first goal of the game just under three minutes in, as a Blaz Gregorc point shot was deflected by Robert Sabolic, with the puck squeezing through Bence Balizs' five hole and rolling agonisingly over the line. Both teams had over ten minutes of powerplay time, as the game struggled to get any real flow in the first period and beyond due to the constant calling of penalties.
The second period was all Slovenia, and they scored two powerplay goals in the space of a minute to all but seal the game in the middle frame. Gregorc turned from producer to scorer, as his low point shot found the back of the net on a 5 on 3 powerplay, before David Rodman tipped a point shot past Balizs to make the score 3:0 on the subsequent 5 on 4 man advantage. It was a crushing blow for Hungary, who had come so close to equalising the game only a few minutes before. Slovenia thought they had made it 4:0 when a 2 on 1 break for the home side left Ales Music to fire a one timer through Balizs, with the puck getting to the goal line before Balizs could retrieve it. The goal was reviewed, but to the fury of the home fans, it was disallowed.
Hungary were denied time and again by Robert Kristan, who had an incredible game between the pipes for Slovenia, and despite their building powerplay chances, Hungary could just not beat the Slovenian netminder. Slovenia would jump out to a 4:0 before the halfway point of the third, as Rok Ticar scored after a beautiful passage of play on the powerplay. The travelling Hungarian fans, still singing their hearts out, would finally get to a cheer a goal in the third period, as with nine minutes to go, Marton Vas fired a laser of a wristshot into the top corner on the powerplay. However, it was too little, too late for the Hungarians, who once again lose at the hands of the Slovenians, and will be desperate to win against Austria on Thursday.
Maxim Bain
(F)
Broc Little
(F)
Linköping HC
Herlev IC Eagles
Czech Rep.:
Tipsport extraliga |
1.liga |
2.liga
Slovakia:
Tipsport Extraliga |
1.liga
Finland:
Germany:
Switzerland: