IIHF World Championship round up - day two

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Hockey correspondent Tambo gives us his views on the second day of competition in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship.

I will start with the first coupon buster of the tournament as Kazakhstan defeated Germany 2-1

GERMANY 1 KAZAKHSTAN 2

The Kazhaks had an early power play and Dmitri Upper tipped a slap shot by Blokin from the left point after just 1.24. Germany then dominated the opening period without really penetrating the Kazakh defence, only threatening on the power play. Things took a major turn for the worst for the favourites after 17.55 when Koreshkov took a pass off the boards from Koledayev and slid a backhander underneath the left pad of Jonas. 2-0 and a shock on the cards.

Not a lot to report in the second other than continued German domination with nothing to show for it until 39.32 as Fical drew two opponents into the offensive zone and played a blind pass to Martinec who top shelved to cut the lead to one goal. Sits back and awaits the deluge in the 3rd.

No change in the 3rd as Germany could not find a way past the Kazakhs who sat back in their defensive zone waiting for counter attacks. Is Paul Heavey secretly coaching them? They even had the best chance of the final 20 mins when a huge slap shot pinged off the crossbar.

So the first major surprise of the tournament and with Germany facing the mighty Czechs in their next game they will be nervously looking to the relegation round to keep their top status.

CZECH REPUBLIC 3 SWITZERLAND 1

In the other game in this group the Czech Republic won the 100th meeting between them and Switzerland with 3 power play goals. The took the lead at 4.52 when Prospal picked up the puck deep in the Swiss defensive zone and deked the goalie to make it 1-0. They doubled the lead at 7.31 as Jaromir Jagr wired a wrist shot inside Gerber’s far post.

The Swiss pulled one back at 12.42 as Blindenbacher hit a screamer along the ice from the blue line into the net past the screened Vokoun.

Second period was a very tight affair with a few chances at either end and both goalies making good saves and the scorers were untroubled during the period.

Switzerland had the early chances in the third but it was the Czech Republic who got the clincher after 45.56 as Kaberle beat Gerber through traffic with a low shot from the blue line.

The Czechs outshot their opponents 41-23 and will go into the game with Germany with confidence in their power play and should top the group with ease.

USA 7 SLOVENIA 0

In group B the USA opened their tournament with a convincing 7-0 thrashing of Slovenia. Two goals by outstanding man of the match Knuble were added to by Hall, Parrish, Halpern, Gionta and Stastny as Team USA totally dominated the game against a defensively naïve Slovenia. Much tougher games await USA later this week as they take on Latvia and Canada.

UKRAINE 2 SWEDEN 3

Sweden just edged Ukraine in an exciting game in group B only netting the winner midway through the 3rd period.

The Swedes opened the scoring on 5.17 with a super goal from kahnberg, taking the puck in the corner, came out in front of the crease and slid the puck under the stick of goaltender Simchuk as the latter attempted the poke check. Another superb piece of skill from Rhodin brought about the Swedes second goal at 9.07. Rhodin took a pass at left point, faked a shot and skated inside, faked another D man and slid a beautiful pass to Kenny Jonsson who tapped it into open net as Simchuk fell for a third fake. End of period and a comfortable lead for the Swedes as Ukraine struggled to mount any offensive play, mainly due to being on the penalty kill four times in the period.

Ukraine came out in the second period full of confidence and has two good chances early on but good goaltending by Lundqvist robbed Semenchenko and Salnikov. The breakthrough came at 26.32 as Bobrovnikov was hammered into the boards and as ref Sindler’s hand was in the air for the delayed penalty he somehow managed to find Savenko with a superb pass and the latter deked the goalie for a wonderful goal. The Swedes were looking very uncomfortable and Ukraine suddenly realised that if they kept out of the penalty box they could get something from this game. Fortune favoured the brave at 32.37 when Klymentyev just drifted a wrister from the blue line and it sailed past Lundqvist who immediately let the whole building know he had been screened.

Ukraine again came out of the blocks like a train in the third and the Swedes were again looking very jittery. Chances on both sides went begging before normal order was restored by veteran Daniel Alfredsson at the midway point in the third as he took a pass from Backman and wristed over Simchuk to give them the win. A shot count of 48-17 did not do Ukraine justice and with a bit of luck they might yet cause an upset.

A day of shock and nearly shock as the tournament begins to gather momentum. Germany has a mountain to climb and Sweden and the Czech Republic must improve if they are to realise their dreams. On to Monday with 4 more games as Slovakia take on Russia and Belarus play the hosts Austria in group A and Canada v Slovenia and USA v Latvia are the match ups in group B.

More tomorrow!

Tambo

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