Russia, Kazakhstan win, Belarus suffers a shocker
Russia eased past Denmark as it recovered from a defeat against Slovakia, while Kazakhstan’s dreams of making the playoffs are enhanced by victory over Germany. However, there was a big shock in Group A as Great Britain defeated Belarus. Also in the evening, Canada recorded its first win of the tournament, downing Norway 4-2.
Back to winning ways
Russia 3 Denmark 0 (0-0, 1-0, 2-0)
Russia had to be patient as it bounced back from its defeat against Slovakia by blanking the Danes. Nikita Nesterov made his first appearance at the World Championship, Alexander Samonov delivered the first shut-out of the tournament and there was a memorable goal from Dmitry Voronkov as the Red Machine wore down a resilient Danish team.
Photo: 26.05.21. 2021 IIHF World Championship. Russia - Denmark
For almost 40 minutes Russia was unable to turn pressure into goals. That’s been a familiar story throughout this championship, where the fancied teams have seldom had things their own way. But in the last minute of the second period, Ivan Morozov opened the scoring on the power play after a goalmouth scramble.
But the alarm bells were ringing as loudly as the Russian crossbar early in the third when Nikolai Meyer threatened to tie the scores with an effort that dinged the goalframe and flew to safety. The response was swift, with Alexander Barabanov going through to make it 2-0 and effectively kill the game. And all doubts were extinguished when Voronkov followed up Morozov’s face-off win to wire one in from the circle and make it 3-0. Voronkov had an assist on Morozov’s opening goal and the youngsters look to have a good partnership developing.
“They put us together in the game against Slovakia,” Morozov said. “This is Team Russia, so you know that every partner is going to be an excellent player. Today it worked well for us, we got good goals.”
Although it took time for goals to come, head coach Valery Bragin was not too concerned – and urged patience on behalf of his team.
“There are no easy games at this World Championship,” he said. “Every team, especially against us, tries to do a good job on defense. Often they try to play from the back so we have to adjust.
“But we did that and in the second and, especially the third period we started playing the right way and creating grade A chances.”
Samonov got another player of the game award, burnishing a fast-growing reputation at this tournament with his first shut-out. And, with Ilya Samsonov unable to join the team as planned, that’s a boost for Bragin and his coaching staff.
“At the moment we regard [Samonov] as our #1,” the head coach added. “He did well today, he tidied everything up and we’re looking forward to more of the same.”
Brits stun Belarus
Belarus 3 Great Britain 4 (0-1, 1-2, 2-1)
Britain won a World Championship game in regulation for the first time since 1962 as Belarus suffered a shock defeat in Riga. The result moves the Brits to fifth place in Group A, one point behind Denmark in the playoff places and level with tonight’s opponent.
The Belarusians suffered from a slow start to the game, trailing at the first intermission to a goal from Liam Kirk. When Vladislav Kodola tied it up in the second, though, it seemed that things were back on track for the Bison.
Instead, GB struck twice late in the frame through Ben Davies and Kirk’s second of the tournament – a tally that moves him to four goals, alongside Nicklas Jensen in the goalscoring race – and left Belarus staring down the barrel of its first loss to the Brits since 1996.
“We played badly in the first two periods,” Kodola said. “We lacked discipline, we lost players and we gave away unnecessary goals.
"Our coaches warned us that Britain plays fast and we should expect a good game, but we allowed too many soft goals and we only started playing in the third period when we were behind.
"If we had played the way our coaches asked us from the start, I think it would have been a very different result."
In the third, Belarus outshot Britain 22-7 but fell further behind to a Mike Hammond goal before rallying in the closing stages. Francis Pare and Shane Prince made it a one-goal game with 2:17 on the clock and Yegor Sharangovich forced a big save from Ben Bowns in the GB net, but Britain held on for a historic win.
Belarus is back in action against Denmark on Friday, with Ilya Solovyov admitting that his team needs time to get over tonight’s defeat.
Group B
Kazakhs dream of playoff spot
Kazakhstan 3 Germany 2 (0-0, 1-2, 2-0)
Kazakhstan’s sensational tournament continues with a 3-2 victory over Germany. That lifts Yury Mikhailis’ team to second place in Group B and snaps Germany’s three-game winning start in Riga. Largely unheralded before the tournament began, the Kazakhs are now close to booking a place in the quarter-finals for the first time.
Barys forward Pavel Akolzin potted the game winner on a break-out late in the third and now he’s hoping to make a piece of history with his team.
"Our goal was to play in the quarter-finals, and the way we are playing, we’re happy with how things are going," Akolzin said. "We were expecting to win some games, and that’s what we’re doing."
Both teams hit the piping in a goalless first period, but it was Kazakhstan that opened the scoring early in the second through Alexander Shin. That was the first time the team had led in regulation, after defeating both Latvia and Finland in shoot-outs.
Once again, though, the Kazakhs fell behind. Goals from Tom Kuhnhackl and Markus Eisenschmitt turned the game around and Germany led at the second intermission – but not for long after. Having already demonstrated their composure in two shoot-out wins, Kazakhstan showed the same sang-froid in the game. Roman Starchenko dispatched a penalty shot early in the third to tie the scores before Akolzin snaffled that late winner.
“In the second intermission we talked to the team and told them not to get away from our game,” head coach Mikhailis said. “For a period and a half we didn’t let Germany create anything and created lots of chances ourselves.
“The team listened and kept playing like we did against Latvia and Finland. We found some inner strength, we dug deep and we were just great in the third. We were committed and disciplined, I’m proud of the guys.”
Canada wins at last
Canada 4 Norway 2 (2-0, 1-2, 1-0)
In desperate need of victory to stave off the unthinkable, Canada made a perfect start against Norway. Connor Brown opened the scoring after 22 seconds and then had an assist as Adam Henrique doubled the lead midway through the first period.
Game over? In a normal year, maybe. But this is no normal World Championship and Canada’s fragility emerged once again as Norway tied it up with two quick goals in the second period. However, another Brown helper saw Andrew Mangiapane restore the Canadian lead before Henrique second of the game sealed the deal with 10 minutes left.
