Despite conceding an opening goal, the Swiss won their fifth match at the tournament and replaced the Czech Republic at the top of the group. The Swedes remain unbeaten after a 4-0 triumph over France. The Finns celebrated their fourth triumph and are second in the group. Austria lost for the sixth time and is last. The Americans are another team that has secured the playoffs. The home Latvians lack a point to advance to the quarterfinals.
The Swiss turned the group’s hit
The opening third of the match between two so far undefeated teams ended goalless. Canadian talent Fantilli came close to scoring in the first minute, but the Swiss averted the disaster. Immediately Glauser had to go to the penalty bench,
However, the Canadians did not use the power play. In the sixth minute, the Swiss side Haas threatened for the first time, but goalkeeper Montembeault was attentive. The Swiss also played an unsuccessful numerical advantage. Shortly before the break, Glauser had a great chance, but he still hasn’t moved the ball.
At the end of the 29th minute, the star Niederreiter weakened the Swiss, and his offense cost coach Patrick Fischer’s team dearly. Fantilli’s prompt finish from the circle with a shot without preparation was neutralized by Genoni, but he could not do enough for Toffoli’s blow a moment later, even due to the obscured view.
The Swiss did not waste time and responded in the 34th minute after Hischier’s performance. The New Jersey striker played with several opponents in a small space and hung under the crossbar. A moment later, the pressed Corvi did not succeed, but at 37:00 Simion completed the turn with a stop.
Although the Swiss did not use the power play in the third part, they had reason to be happy for the third time in the 53rd minute. Niederreiter found the 39-year-old Ambühl with an excellent pass after hugging the goal, whose first attempt was stopped by Montembeault, but he was unable to reach the Swiss veteran’s finish.
Hischier then drove alone at the goalkeeper, but failed. The Canadian team countered with a reduction in the 57th minute when the flowing Carcone came through. The final game of the overseas team without a goalkeeper did not bring another change in the score.
The Latvians are one point away from the playoffs
Latvia’s players need a point from Tuesday’s final Group B match against Switzerland or any Slovakia loss against Slovenia or Norway to advance. Kazakhstan has lost hope of participating in the playoffs and is not yet certain of salvation among the elite, but it has a lead of four points over the last Slovenians.
Coach Harijs Vitolinš’s men equaled the highest win of the tournament, which was achieved by the Swiss in its opening with the same result of 7:0 against Slovenia. Rodrigo Abols contributed two goals and an assist, captain Kaspars Daugavinš scored a goal and two assists, and Rudolfs Balcers scored three assists.
Rihards Bukarts opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a power play and in 100 seconds Oskars Batna increased the score with a flowing shot by Kristaps Zile. After 73 seconds of the second half, Martinš Dzierkals was knocked down by Danil Butenko while escaping the goalkeeper Andrej Šutov, the puck from his skate went into the shifted goal, and referees Hürlimann and MacFarlane recognized the goal after checking the video. And they confirmed him repeatedly after the coaching challenge of Kazakhstan.
In the middle of the game, after Daugavinš’s shot from the stop, Abols increased the score. The Latvians, driven by the boisterous audience of the packed Riga Arena, had a number of other chances and scored their fifth goal five seconds before the second break. Rihards Bukarts’ pass was directed by Miks Indrašis for Šutov.
In the third period Šutov was replaced by Nikita Bojarkin and in the 50th minute he also conceded after Daugavinš’s shot from the right circle. In 110 seconds, he completed the result with his second goal of the game for Abols on a penalty from Dmitri Grenc after Balcers’ pass. Šilovs kept a clean sheet thanks to 16 successful saves.
The Finns were worried about victory
The home Finns had an ideal start to the game, Kapanen opened the scoring after just 79 seconds. However, the Austrians were able to respond quickly and in the 5th minute, Zwerger equalized after a counterattack.
The Finns had a significant shooting advantage, pressed in front of Madlener’s goal, who got the first chance of the tournament, and took the lead back in the 8th minute. After a beautiful pass from the defender Määttä, he made an effective stick behind the body of Suomel.
But Madlener eliminated the other shots and took care of the drama of the match. In the second period, the Austrians kept pace with the reigning champions. In the third part, the Northerners again took over the activity. Coach Jukka Jalonen changed the composition of the attacks, the Finns created chances, but they scored a goal only in the 59th minute, when the former Hradec Králové striker Oksanen made his mark.
The USA players struck in the final act
The Americans broke the resistance of the tenacious Denmark opponent only in the third period, until the 50th minute the game was scoreless. Alex Tuch scored a goal and two assists, Casey DeSmith kept a clean sheet. Denmark lost for the second time at the championship, with eight points holding fourth place in the Group A table.
The Americans were more active from the beginning. In the first period, however, they ran into the prepared goalkeeper Dichow. Eyssimont came closest to opening the score in the 10th minute after an opponent’s error in play, but he only hit the post.
Goalkeeper DeSmith, on the other hand, was checked after an individual action by the Storm, but he too could not score. At the end of the first period, Dichow was concussed after a collision with Brown, and after the break he was replaced in the Danish goal by Sorensen, who made his first save of the tournament.
He was able to build on the performance of his colleagues and continued to trouble the American shooters. Gauthier was especially active, scoring eight shooting attempts in 40 minutes. The Danes mainly focused on careful defense and threatened from isolated actions, but DeSmith was ready.
At the beginning of the third part, the Danes could strike in the power play, they even played five against three for 59 seconds, but they did not score a goal. The Americans defended, then Poulsen was sent off and the United States opened the scoring. Gauthier cut short the wait for the first goal of the match with his ninth shot.
Nicklas Jensen could equalize, but even he couldn’t beat DeSmith. Tuch then secured the win for the Americans, and Grimaldi had the last word during the power play of his opponent.
The Swedes dismantled France in the first period
Extraordinary efficiency in the opening act was enough for the Swedes to win three points. Against the outsider, they shot only seven times into the goal area, while the French sent eight accurate shots at Johansson, but they beat the goalkeeper Junca four times.
Texier had the first big chance of the match, but Johansson intervened. The Tre kronor hockey players could therefore immediately take the lead. Pär Lindholm ended the nice interplay in the second minute. Raymond rang the bell a moment later at the goal structure. In the tenth minute, he came face to face with the French goalkeeper Zetterlund and bluffed into the backhand.
The French could have answered early, but Bertrand and the finishing Fabre didn’t use the two-to-one renumbering – again the flawless Johansson stood in their way. The northerners then defended themselves against the weakening and added a third hit on their first power play. Berggren’s pass was unfortunately knocked into his own goal by a Thira defender. Six seconds before the break, the Swedes took advantage of another numerical advantage thanks to Zetterlund.
Junca gave up his place to Papillon from the second period. The Swedes fired 22 shots, but the score did not change. In the 57th minute, Zetterlund got the puck into the goal again, but because he beat Papillon from the goal post with an exhibition pie, the judges could not recognize his third hit of the evening. 15 successful saves were enough for Johansson to defend a clean sheet.
Ice Hockey World Championship – Group A (Tampere):
USA – Denmark 3:0 (0:0, 0:0, 3:0)
Goals and assists: 50. Gauthier (A. Tuch, Tynan), 56. A. Tuch (Grimaldi, Perunovich), 60. Grimaldi (A. Tuch). Referees: Langin (Can.), Heikkinen – Niittylä (both Finland), Nothegger (Austria). Exclusion: 3:3. Usage: 1:0. Viewers: 8951.
USA: DeSmith – Perbix, Samberg, Perunovich, Kleven, Mackey, Thrun, Hutson – A. Tuch, Bonino, Grimaldi – Garland, O’Connor, Eyssimont – Mazur, Tynan, Gauthier – Coronato, Brown, Farrell – Bjork. Coach: Quinn.
Denmark: Dichow (21. Sorensen) – Lassen, M. Lauridsen, Jensen Aabo, A. Koch, O. Lauridsen, Krogsgaard, Gammelgaard – N. Ehlers, Russell, N. Jensen – Boedker, Poulsen, Storm – Asperup, Moelgaard, Bau Hansen – Andersen, Wejse, Olesen. Coach: H. Ehlers.
Austria – Finland 1:3 (1:2, 0:0, 0:1)
Goals and assists: 5. Zwerger (Rossi) – 2. Kapanen (Kakko, Määttä), 8. Suomela (Määttä, Koivisto), 59. Oksanen (Björninen). Referee: Holm (Swedish), Hunnius – Hofer (both German), Briganti (USA). Dismissal: 2:0. No use. Spectators: 11,785.
Austria: Madlener – Nickl, B. Wolf, Zündel, Heinrich, Brunner, Reinbacher, Maier, Strong – M. Huber, Haudum, Wukovits – Thaler, Nissner, P. Huber – Schneider, Rossi, Zwerger – Neubauer, Achermann, Ganahl. Coach: Bader.
Finland: Larmi – Ohtamaa, M. Lehtonen, Koivisto, Määttä, Pokka, Seppälä, Matinpalo, Friman – Rantanen, Manninen, Hartikainen – Kapanen, Suomela, Kakko – Armia, Lammikko, Pesonen – Anttila, Björninen, Oksanen. Trainer: J. Jalonen.
Sweden – France 4:0 (4:0, 0:0, 0:0)
Goals and assists: 2. P. Lindholm (Tömmernes, A. Petersson), 10. Zetterlund (Pudas, Tömmernes), 17. Berggren (Carlsson, Tömmernes), 20. Zetterlund (O. Lindberg, Raymond). Referees: Fernandez (USA), Ansons – Zunde (both Lot.), Mackey (Can.). Exclusion: 3:3. Usage: 2:0. Viewers: 8454.
Sweden: Lars Johansson – Sandin, Liljegren, A. Lindholm, Tömmernes, L. Bengtsson, Nemeth, Pudas – Berggren, Carlsson, Raymond – Grundström, P. Lindholm, A. Petersson – Everberg, O. Lindberg, Zetterlund – Silfverberg, J de la Rose, Sörensen – A. Nylander. Trainer: Hallam.
France: Junca (21st Butterfly) – Gallet, Boscq, Llorca, Chakiachvili, Onno, Crinon, Thiry – Texier, Boudon, T. Bozon – Rech, Addamo, Leclerc – Bertrand, Claireaux, Fabre – Farnier, Valier, K. Bozon . . . . Trainer: P. Bozon.
Group B (Riga):
Canada – Switzerland 2:3 (0:0, 1:2, 1:1)
Goals and assists: 30. Toffoli (Laughton, Quinn), 57. Carcone (Hunt, Neighbours) – 34. Hischier (Fora, Fiala), 37. Simion (Marti, Haas), 53. Ambühl (Niederreiter, Corvi). Referees: Björk (Sweden), Frandsen (Dan.) – Ondráček (CZ), Hautamäki (Fin.). Exclusion: 3:2. Usage: 1:0. Viewers: 8234.
Kanada: Montembeault – Weegar, Middleton, Hunt, Bear, Joseph, Myers, Barron – Blais, Veleno, Lucic – J. Quinn, Laughton, Crouse – Carcone, McBain, Neighbours – Toffoli, Glass, Fantilli – Krebs. Trenér: Tourigny.
Švýcarsko: Genoni – Kukan, Siegenthaler, Moser, Glauser, Marti, Loeffel, Geisser, Fora – Fiala, Hischier, Malgin – Niederreiter, Corvi, Ambühl – Miranda, Haas, Simion – Herzog, Richard, Ch. Bertschy – Riat. Trener: Fisherman.
Latvia – Kazakhstan 7:0 (2:0, 3:0, 2:0)
Branky a naravky: 16. Rihards Bukarts (M. Dzierkals, Jaks), 18. Batna (Zile), 22. M. Dzierkals (Batna, Roberts Bukarts), 30. Abols (Daugavinš, Balcers), 40. Indrašis (Rihards Bukarts , Freibergs), 50. Daugavinš (Balcers, Abols), 52. Abols (Balcers, Daugavinš). Referees: Hürlimann (Švýc.), MacFarlane (USA) – Hynek (ČR), Synek (SR). Vyloučení: 3:5. Usage: 2:0. Diváci: 9200.
Latvian: Šilovs – Balinskis, Zile, Cibulskis, Jaks, Chukste, Freiberg, Bergmanis – Daugavinš, Abols, Balcers – M. Dzierkals, Batna, Roberts Bukarts – Krastenbergs, Smirnovs, Anderson – Indrašis, Djerinš, Rihards Bukarts – od 21. Pilot lie. Coach: Vitolinš.
Kazakhstan: Šutov (41. Bojarkin) – S. Danijar, Beketaev, Polochov, Orechov, Butenko, Dichanbek, Korolhov, Gaytamirov – Starchenko, Šestakov, Rymarev – N. Michajlis, Grenc, Savicky – Muratov, Muchametov, Omirbekov – Kajyržan, Mangisbayev , Rachmanov. Coach: Mambetaliyev.
