Kazakhstan survive Japan scare to open with a victory

The first period saw a closely fought contest, with Kazakhstan having the upper hand, but Japan looking dangerous on the break. Japan had an early powerplay opportunity but struggled to generate any offence with the Kazakhstan forwards pressuring the points. Yutaka Fukfuji was forced into action early on as Kazakhstan dominated puck possession in the early minutes, with Vadim Krasnoslobodtsev drawing a save from Fukufuji. Japan were forced to kill two powerplays, with Fukufuji forced to make a number of stops including a great double save to form part of the fourteen he had to make in the opening frame. Despite being on the back foot, it was Japan who would open the scoring, capitalising on the speed of their forwards. A 3 on 2 break developed and breaking in on the right hand side, Shuhei Kuji fired a low shot which Vitali Kolesnik could only kick out into the slot, and the Japanese captain Go Tanaka picked up the pieces and scored on the rebound. However, their lead would last all of four minutes thanks to a defensive lapse which resulted in Makoto Kawashima falling on top of Fukufuji, and Konstantin Savenkov able to pick up the loose puck and score one of the easiest goals he’ll ever score. Kazakhstan continued to lay siege on the Japanese net, as they outshot their opponents 14:9 in the first period, but Fukufuji was up to the task, making two great stops on Talgat Zhailuaov and Andrei Korabeinikov.

Japan grew into the game in the second period, as they started to generate more scoring chances and outshooting their higher seeded opponents. However, Kazakhstan would take the lead for the first time in the game thanks to Konstantin Romanov’s 26^th minute marker. It took three minutes for Japan to equalise though, as while on the powerplay, a long stretch pass from Aaron Keller sent Takuma Kawai in alone on Kolesnik, and the Japanese forward pulled a lovely move, faking onto his backhand before pulling back onto his forehand and firing the puck past Kolesnik. Kazakhstan would go on to prove that their powerplay was up to the task though, as with just 40 seconds to go in the second period, with Kenta Takagi in the box, the Kazakhs would re-take the lead. Roman Starchenko’s shot was stopped by Fukufuji, but the rebound spilled to Viktor Alexandrov, who spun and fired the puck top shelf, past a sprawling Fukufuji.

The third period of the game was an open encounter, with Japan looking the better side for the most part. In fact it was the Japanese who went closest to scoring, as with seven minutes to go in the period, Osawa Yuto found himself all alone in front of Kolesnik, received the pass from the left wing, only to then miss the net with a backhand effort. This would go on to prove costly, as Kazakhstan, in the first good chance for a number of minutes, got the insurance marker. A brilliant piece of puck possession by Dmitri Upper, going from the slot, around the back of the net and back out, only to then backhand the puck across the face of goal to an unmarked Talgat Zhailuaov, and the Barys Astana forward made no mistake as he tapped the puck past Fukufuji with under five to play. As the clock ticked down, Japan surged men forward, and eventually they would pay the price as Konstantin Romanov was sent in on a breakaway by Konstantin Pushkaryov, and Romanov would bag his second of the game with a nifty backhand move to beat Fukufuji.

All in all the score flattered the Kazakh side, but they were clinical in front of goal, and an overall lack of offensive zone time by the Japanese contributed to their own downfall. However, it was certainly a marked improvement on the 7:0 drubbing given out at the hands of Hungary to the Japanese last week, and the Japanese certainly generated chances on the rush. Despite absence of Vitali Yeremeyev and Kevin Dallman, Kazakhstan put in a performance that did not amaze, but underlined their credentials as a favourite for promotion. Vitali Kolesnik made 29 saves for the victory.

Man of the match awards:
Japan: Yutaka Fukufuji
Kazakhstan: Konstantin Romanov

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