Features

World Championships 2007 Day Three

Sunday, 29th April 2007

Jim 'Tambo' Piper gives us the news from Day Three of the IIHF World Championships.

Czech Republic 6 Austria 1

Fresh from their 8-1 opening result, the Czechs were out to solidify their position and qualify for the second round against an Austrian side who had been well beaten in their first game.

The Czechs started fast and pinned the Austrians in their own defensive zone and took the lead on 3:55 on the powerplay as Petr Sykora one-timed a blistering shot from the point. 6 minutes later and they had a two goal lead as the impressive Jaroslav Hlinka fired the puck past Brueckler short side. Cechmanek in goal had little to do as the Austrians failed to get any shots of real quality on his goal. End of the 1st 2-0 to Czech Republic.

It took the Czechs until 21:02 to put the game beyond the reach of the Austrians as Brueckler made a hash of a Sykora shot and Caslava slid the rebound into the net. The goalie made amends seconds later when he made a sensational diving save from Sykora as he grabbed the puck with his glove as he fell to the ice. With just under three minutes of the period left, Austria pulled a goal back as Divis shot from the boards. Schuller tried to deflect the puck and missed, however this fooled Cechmanek and the puck ended up in the net. That was it for the second and a 3-1 lead for the Czech republic.

Barinka blasted a screamer past the helpless Brueckler early in the third and Hlinka scored his second and the Czech Republic’s 5th a few minutes later. Jan Marek finished off the scoring with around 5 mins left as he scooped the puck past the Austrian goalie.

A comfortable win for the Czechs as they go into a table topping clash with USA on Tuesday. Austria will have to improve if they are to have any chance of beating Belarus in the battle to avoid the relegation group.

FINLAND 6 DENMARK 2

The afternoon’s second game was all about special teams as Finland used theirs to maximum effect scoring 3 times on 5 on 3, one on a single man advantage and another shorthanded as they overcame Denmark. The match only managed to produce 2 even handed goals out of 8 as 19 minor penalties were awarded, resulting in no less than 6 goals.

The first double man advantage went the way of Finland and at 7:36 as Madsen was unable to gather a shot from Nummelin and the latter picked up his own rebound to open the scoring. The second 5 on 3 advantage went to Denmark and at 12:49 they equalised as they moved the puck around the defense to make room for Damgaard to hammer a low shot past Lehtonen. With 30 seconds left of the Finnish second penalty, they took the lead shorthanded as Mikko Koivu drove down the right wing and shot under the crossbar for 2-1. Another two man advantage, this time to Finland was decisive as with 18:48 on the clock, Nummelin scored his second and Finland’s third with another high wrister.

The pattern continued in the 2nd period and Finland scored a fourth on, yes , you guessed it, a 5 on 3 powerplay. Peltonen blasted an unstoppable canon past the screened Madsen on 23:28. Denmark came more into the game after this and smart saves by Lehtonen protected Finlands lead. End of the period and 4-1 to Finland.

Finland blasted out of the traps in the third and scored a 5th goal, surprisingly even handed as Kontiola passed from behind the goal to Aki-Petteri Berg who was all alone in front of goal to score. Finland scored a 6th on 50:42 with Jukka Hentunen smashing a one timer from the slot from a pass by Niko Kapanen. Denmark scored a consolation goal on 55:17 when Kjaergaard tipped a Nielsen pass through Lehtonen’s pads to end the scoring. Final score 6-2 to Finland.

A comfortable win for the Finns without really extending themselves. Missing 2 players suffering a fever, they hardly got out of second gear to beat the Danes.

Finland now take on Russia in a May day clash to decide who tops the group. Denmark must now beat Ukraine or go through the agonies of the relegation round for the second year running.

RUSSIA 8 UKRAINE 1

The mean red machine marched on in the evening game at the Khodynka arena as they brushed Ukraine aside with a superb team performance. It was just like the old days of the Red Republic as five players from one team, AK Bars Kazan, scored six of the Russian goals. The two defencemen Nikulin and Proshkin each scored and the three forwards Morozov ( 3 goals and 3 assists) Zinoviev( a goal and 4 assists) and Zaripov ( 3 assists) were all impressive as it took some of us older fans back to the days of the CSKA Moscow first liners.

All this after the Ukraine took a shock lead on 4 minutes when Klymentiev scored for the underdogs. After NHL superstar Alexander Ovechkin became the first Russian player to sit in the penalty box , Klymentiev let a low shot go from the point to beat Eremenko in the Russian goal. Russia equalised, again on the powerplay as Morozov scored his first goal of the night with a wrister on 9:38. The next powerplay brought the go ahead goal for Russia on 12:22 as Zinoviev took a pass from Morozov to wrist a shot into the net. The period ended with Ukraine on top, but this seemed more because of the Russians taking a breather than better play from their Eastern neighbours. End of the 1st Russia 2 Ukraine 1.

The second period was all one way traffic as Russia put 19 shots on Fedorov in the Ukraine goal. 25:15 on the clock and a lovely move between Zaripov and Zinoviev totally bamboozled the Ukraine defence and Nikulin came in from point to take a pass and fire sharply into the net. Russia went 4-1 at 32:01, Proshkin hammered an unstoppable shot past Fedorov after sweet link up play by his three Kazan team mates. Ukraine were further punished on 39:19 as the powerful penalty unit from Kazan scored again with Morozov finishing off a delightful move from the left face off circle. End of 2nd 5-1 to Russia.

There was no let up for the beleaguered Ukraine team as the third followed the same pattern as the second. Constant pressure resulted in consecutive power plays to Russia and on the second, Radulov pushed home a rebound off an Ovechkin shot, timed at 45:40. Russia scored the goal of the game with around 8 minutes to go when that superb Kazan line of Morozov, Zaripov and Zinoviev charged over the centre line on an odd man rush and a tic tac toe play ended with Morozov scoring his third of the evening. A thing of beauty and more than likely the goal of the tournament, even at this early stage. This signalled the end for poor Fedorov , who was replaced by Karpenko for the remainder of the game. Frolov completed the scoring on 56:37 on yet another powerplay, brought about by the sheer fatigue of the Ukraine team.

A superb and impressive performance by the Red Juggernaut and on this form will be serious contenders for the title. A mouthwatering clash with Finland is next on May day. Ukraine must now regroup and battle with Denmark to avoid last place in the group.

USA 5 BELARUS 1

USA were looking to build on their first round demolition of Austria and set up a group decider against the powerful Czechs. Belarus were hoping to tighten up ahead of a probably last place decider against Austria.

USA set the tone for the game as early as 2:40 when Bochenski passed to Jack Johnson from behind the goal and the latter sent a high wrister past Mezin for 1-0.

Two minutes later Stempniak added a second as he broke through 3 defenders and shot wide of goal. Arnason picked up the loose puck and fed the puck in front of goal to the totally unmarked Stempniak who scored with ease. Belarus settled down a bit after this but were unable to stop the fast breaking Americans who crashed the net at every opportunity. This resulted in a third goal on 17:45 when Larose scored, assisted by Peterson. End of the 1st 3-0 and no way back for the White Russians.

Only 4:30 had registered on the second period clock when Chris Clark made it 4-0, scoring after a huge forecheck from Stastny which released the puck and he quickly passed to Clark in front of goal to score. USA scored a fifth goal on a two man advantage at 35:55 as Stempniak hit his second of the game, assisted by Chris Clark. End of 2 and a commanding 5-0 lead for Team USA.

Belarus, with nothing to lose, came out fighting in the third and took the game to the tiring Americans and got their reward on 43:31 with agoal from Oleg Antonenko. This inspired the crowd who were mostly behind the East European team and the atmosphere built up with every Belarus attack. No more goals in the game but Belarus at least can take heart from a solid third period showing. They now take on Austria for third place in the group while the impressive young Americans now face the might of the Czech Republic to see who tops the group.

Another fine day’s play in the competition with Russia, Finland and the Czech Republic flexing their muscles in preparation for group deciding games on Tuesday. However, this young American team are looking confident and could yet pull out a few surprises in the competition.

More tomorrow!

Tambo