Slovaks Pull Off Big Upset With Win Over USA

Slovakia has pulled off a major upset at the World Juniors, beating USA in a wild 3-2 game on Thursday evening.

The first period saw some good action at both ends, but neither team could find a way to poke through each other’s goaltending. The closest opportunity came midway through when, after a poor start, Brady Tkachuk hit the post on a good shot. The Americans struggled to create much after that, while the Slovaks held on for their best period of the tournament at that point.

In somewhat of a surprising situation, the Slovaks found themselves on the board first. Around five minutes into the second, Filip Krivosik gave Slovakia their first goal of the tournament with a nice wrist shot on the 2-on-1, beating Joseph Woll’s glove for the icebreaker.

Scoring first has proven to be very important in the tournament, with the team that opened the scoring winning each game prior to the contest Thursday evening.

At 11:07 of the middle stanza, USA finally had something to celebrate. Tkachuk had been USA's best player all night and he was rewarded with a pretty goal after taking Ryan Poehling’s pass and breaking through the middle, making a quick deke before sliding it between Roman Durny’s legs and in for the 1-1 goal.

The Americans couldn't seem to buy a goal during a merciful start to the third. Peppering Durny from all angles, the Americans found themselves doubling Slovakia's shot total overall at the 45-minute mark of the game, but they were still tied at one apiece. 

With the way USA was controlling the puck, it was hard to believe Slovakia would find themselves in the lead with 4:45 left to play. That's exactly what happened when Filip Krivosik exposed a flaw in Woll’s style when he went down low too early, with Krivosik scoring top corner to give Slovakia a late lead.

But it wouldn't last. With 3:11 to go, Buffalo Sabres prospect Casey Mittelstadt scored one of the best goals you'll see at the tournament when he deked around two defenders before scoring while flying in the air, tying the game at two.

Slovakia didn't get many chances, but they made them count. With over two minutes to go, Samuel Bucek waited long enough in a scramble to fire a shot over a group of Americans, putting the Slovaks up again. It was enough for Slovakia to hold on to the win, taking the biggest upset of the tournament on day three.

USA won't get much time to rest as they'll face off against Canada in the first-ever outdoor game at the World Juniors, a 3:00 PM start on Thursday at New Era Field. Slovakia will get to enjoy the sights of Buffalo on Friday before meeting up with Finland on Saturday in a bid to not make Sunday’s game against Denmark a do-or-die situation.

Tweets by @eurohockey