USA hockey players outclassed Hungary 7:1 at the World Championship in Tampere and won the second game of the tournament. Hungarian newcomers among the elite are waiting for their first point gain. Nick Bonino scored two goals to help the Americans win, Rocco Grimaldi had three points per goal and two assists. In Group B, the Slovenians defied Canada, even winning the first period, but eventually fell 2:5.
The Hungarians, who lost to Denmark 1:3 on Saturday, entered the match well. In the 4th minute, Bartalis got a chance to score, but he failed to score, but Sofron opened the account in the continuing action.
However, the highly favored Americans turned the situation around in the first period after gross mistakes by the opponent in the passing game. Alex Tuch equalized in the 7th minute, scoring his third goal of the tournament, and captain Bonino put the United States ahead in the 19th minute.
In the second half, the Americans clearly dominated the duel. Hungarian goalkeeper Dominik Horváth was first helped twice by the sticks, but in the 24th minute he conceded for the third time. In a power play, a Pozsgai defenseman unfortunately skated the puck behind his back.
Then Mazur hit the bar, threatened Vincze in the weakening, but the overseas players prevailed again. Gauthier took care of the fourth goal from a break, which he finished right between Horváth’s concretes.
The Americans sent 19 shots at Horváth in the second period, and were even more active in the third period. And they did well in the end. First, defenseman Mackey broke through on a quick counterattack, then he punished another puck loss in the Grimaldi defensive zone, and Luke Tuch had the last word after an unusual four-on-one outnumbering.
Canada is fired up
Canada’s hockey players also won the second match in the basic group B of the World Championship, defeating Slovenia 5:2 in Riga. The rookie of the elite group won the first period, but it was not enough for the first point gain in the Latvian capital. Defender MacKenzie Weegar led the turnaround of the defending silver medalists, who scored a goal and made two saves. Forward Jan Drozg scored both goals for the Slovenians.
After the initial beating by the Swiss (0:7), the Slovenians soon got their first goal joy of the tournament. Although Urbas did not succeed in the beginning, when he was caught by the Canadian goal keeper Levi, but in the fourth minute, Lucic committed a foul against the rules and ended up being on the penalty bench for only ten seconds. After a jam in front of the goal area, an emphatic Drozg came through and opened the scoring.
The rest of the first period did not bring a change in the score, but the picture of the game was still surprisingly balanced. Sabolič could raise, Levi stepped in with luck. In the 15th minute, Kuralt sealed the goal structure. Not long before the break, Veleno had a great chance to equalize, but his attempt from an ideal position between the circles was promptly eliminated by Gračnar.
In the second act, the overseas favorite added very significantly. The Canadians won the middle 20 minutes on shots on goal with a crushing ratio of 23:2 and their superiority was also reflected in the score. Carcone equalized just 73 seconds after returning from the locker room. In the 28th minute, Joseph’s shot went into the net, and in the 39th minute, the experienced Lucic made up for his mistake from the first half with a power play.
The Canadians then eased up again in the third period, but they increased their lead to 5-1 thanks to Weegar’s goals in the 54th minute and McBain, who scored 51 seconds after that. Another 20 seconds later, Drozg closed the scoring with his second goal of the day.
Ice Hockey World Championship – Group A (Tampere):
USA – Hungary 7:1 (2:1, 2:0, 3:0)
Goals and assists: 7. A. Tuch (Grimaldi), 19. Bonino (Grimaldi), 24. Bonino (Garland, Perunovich), 34. Gauthier (Coronato, Hutson), 42. Mackey (Eyssimont, Garland), 45. Grimaldi , 57. L. Tuch – 5. Sofron (Szabó, Bartalis). Referees: Frandsen (Dan.), Hunnius (German) – Cattaneo (Switzerland), Wyonzek (Can.). Exclusion: 0:2. Usage: 1:0. Viewers: 5258.
USA: Petersen – Perbix, Samberg, Thrun, Perunovich, Mackey, Hutson, Attard – A. Tuch, Bonino, Grimaldi – Garland, O’Connor, Eyssimont – Mazur, Gauthier, Tynan – Coronato, Bjork, Farrell – L. Tuch. Coach: Quinn.
Hungarian: D. Horváth – Fejes, Stipsicz, Hadobás, Szabó, M. Horváth, Kiss, Garát, Pozsgai – Hári, Galló, Sebök – Transylvania, Bartalis, Sofron – Papp, Kóger, G. Nagy – Vincze, Csányi, K. Large. Trainer: Constantine.
Slovenia – Canada 2:5 (1:0, 0:3, 1:2)
Goals and assists: 4. Drozg (Jeglič, Verlič), 56. Drozg (Ograjenšek, Gregorc) – 22. Carcone (Weegar, McBain), 28. Joseph (Toffoli, Fantilli), 39. Lucic (Glass, Weegar), 54 .Weegar (Toffoli, Middleton), 55. McBain (Carcone, Neighbours). Referees: Hürlimann (Switzerland), Schrader (Germany) – Constantineau (Fr.), Yletyinen (Sweden). Exclusion: 5:6. Usage: 1:1. Viewers: 3380.
Slovenian: Gračnar – Gregorc, Pavlin, Magovac, Čepon, Štebih, Mašič, Crnovič – Urbas, Jeglič, Verlič – Sabolič, Tičar, Kuralt – Drozg, Simšič, Ograjenšek – Tomaževič, Čimžar, Pance – Zajc. Trainer: M. Kopitar.
Kanada: Levi – Weegar, Middleton, Barron, Bear, Joseph, Myers, Hunt – Blais, Veleno, Lucic – Carcone, McBain, Fantilli – Quinn, Laughton, Toffoli – Crouse, Glass, Krebs – Neighbours. Trenér: Tourigny.
