Russia and USA take top spot
The World Championship quarter-finals promise another instalment of a classic hockey rivalry when Russia takes on Canada. Valery Bragin’s team secured top spot in Group A with an emphatic win over Belarus, while the Canadians crept into the last eight thanks to Germany’s victory over Latvia.
But there was heartache for Kazakhstan and Latvia, both of whom miss the playoffs. The Kazakhs dropped out of the top four after Canada took a point from a shoot-out loss against Finland, then Latvia was unable to avoid defeat against Germany.
Group A
Russia romps to top spot
Russia 6 Belarus 0 (5-0, 0-0, 1-0)
A five-star first period blew away Belarus as Russia took first place in Group A — and sets up a mouthwatering quarter-final showdown with Canada on Thursday.
Photo: 01.06.21. 2021 IIHF World Championship. Russia - Belarus
It took just 36 seconds for Nikita Nesterov to open the scoring, and when Emil Galimov doubled the lead in the fifth minute, starting goalie Konstantin Shostak was again pulled from the game. Alexei Kolosov came in but could do little to stem the Russian tide — Maxim Shalunov, Mikhail Grigorenko and Nesterov again took the game away.
“Psychologically it was tough when we were up 5-0,” admitted Grigorenko. “Everyone knew that the game was done. We tried to keep playing the right way, keep creating chances, but we have to give credit to Belarus. It’s good that we helped Samonov get the shut-out.”
Samonov made 19 saves for his second blank of the tournament and, in truth, Belarus rarely hurt Russia’s defense. Late in the game, the impressive Dmitry Voronkov added a sixth as thoughts turn towards Canada.
“Canada started with some losses, but Canada is still Canada,” added Grigorenko. “And it’s a quarterfinal, so both teams will give everything. We’re preparing for a hockey war.”
For Belarus, a tournament that started brightly with good results against the Czechs and the Swedes ended badly. Dinamo Minsk’s Ilya Shinkevich felt that the shock loss to Great Britain knocked the team off track.
“It’s not a good feeling, we didn’t do what we came to do,” Shinkevich said. “At the start of the tournament we could match some strong opponents. We won a game, tied another but then we played badly in our remaining games.”
“The game against Great Britain shattered us. We didn’t believe in ourselves against Denmark and lost in the third period.”
Belarus goes home, but will be back in action in August when it goes into the Olympic Qualification tournament.
Czechs take third place
Slovakia 3 Czech Republic 7 (0-2, 1-2, 2-3)
The Czechs secured third place in Group A to set up a quarter-final match-up against Finland on Thursday. An emphatic victory over their neighbor makes it five straight wins for the Czechs after a stuttering start to this tournament.
There was nothing stuttering about their start to this game, though. Filip Zadina opened the scoring after just 29 seconds then turned provider as Michael Spacek doubled the lead late in the frame. The second period brought further tallies from Lukas Radil and Libor Sulak, either side of a response from Slovakia’s Matus Sukel.
In the third, the Czechs extended their lead to 6-1 before a mini-fightback brought some respectability for Slovakia against its bitterest rival.
Craig Ramsay’s Slovakia will face the USA in the knock-out round, and the head coach warned that his team will need to improve if it is to test the Group B winner.
“If you start making turnovers, those little chip ’hope’ passes against a team like the Americans, it’s gonna be a long night, even longer than this one,” Ramsay noted.
Meanwhile, the Czechs were able to rest some players — including Jan Kovar, Jakub Vrana, Filip Hronek and Dominik Kubalik — but head coach Filip Pesan noted that the team continued its impressive run of recent form.
“We’ve been playing well the last few games and I think it was important to keep playing the right way, to not develop bad habits and to win, to keep the feeling on the team high,” said Pesan.
Swiss secure second place
Switzerland 6 Great Britain 3 (2-1, 4-1, 0-1)
The Swiss wrapped up their group campaign with a comprehensive victory over Team GB, but Britain’s Liam Kirk had a three-point game to move out in front in the goalscoring race.
Kirk twice tied this game, moving onto seven goals in Riga, before a four-goal flourish late in the second period put Switzerland in complete control. Christoph Bertschy had two goals and Tristan Scherwey had three helpers. GB pulled one back in the third period when Brendan Connolly converted the rebound from a Kirk shot.
Switzerland finishes second in the group, and will face ... in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Group B
Latvia falls at final hurdle
Germany 2 Latvia 1 (2-0, 0-1, 0-0)
The equation for Latvia was simple: take the game to overtime, and reach the quarterfinal. But the host nation fell agonizingly short as it went down 1-2 against Germany to miss out on a top-four finish. The result handed a reprieve to Canada, which would have been eliminated if regulation time failed to produce a winner.
Latvia could hardly have suffered a worse start, with Germany jumping to a 2-0 lead in barely six minutes. John Peterka and Martin Noebbels were the scorers and, for the fans in Arena Riga for the first time in this tournament, there was an eerie, disappointed silence.
But that changed early in the second when Rodrigo Abols got Latvia on the scoreboard at last. He got on a 3-on-1 break, exchanged passes with Uvis Balinskis and fired past Mathias Niederberger in the German goal to give hope to the host.
However, the second goal would not come. Germany defended stubbornly and Latvia was unable to break through. The Germans advance to play Switzerland in the next round while Latvia laments what might have been.
“We got down 2-0 and we never quit,” said head coach Bob Hartley. “With a little luck and a few more bounces, maybe we could have forced overtime and got into the quarter-finals.”
“Against a high-pressure team like Germany, we knew we wouldn’t get much time but we got some great looks, we made some great plays but we just coudn’t buy a goal. The effort and the execution were there, we just didn’t have the finishing touch.”
Agony for Kazakhstan as Canada makes its point
Canada 2 Finland 3 SO (1-0, 1-1, 0-1, 0-0, 0-1)
Tuesday’s early game grabbed the attention of all Kazakh fans. Canada, desperate for something to push it into the quarter-finals, could knock out Kazakhstan if it got a point from this game. And, frustratingly, that’s exactly what happened despite Finland twice tying the game and ultimately winning it in a shoot-out.
Arttu Ruotsalainen was the man who did the most to further the Kazakh cause. He scored both goals in regulation and potted that overtime winner. But Canada’s point put it level with Kazakhstan on 10, and the head-to-head goes against Yury Mikhailis’ team.
Jokerit newboy Hannes Bjorninen paid tribute to Ruotsalainen after his game-winning performance.
“He’s a really good player,” said Bjorninen. “He’s scored many great goals for us and he did again today. He’s so important for us.”
Canada’s defeat left it with an anxious wait for the outcome of the evening game between Germany and Latvia to discover if it would make the QF or follow Sweden out of the tournament as a second high-profile casualty of the group stage. However, the German win in that game kept it in fourth place and set up that clash with Russia on Thursday evening.
USA takes top spot
Italy 2 USA 4 (0-3, 1-1, 1-0)
Team USA sealed top spot in Group B, and a quarter-final clash with Slovakia, while Italy slipped to a seventh successive defeat. The Italians will not be relegated due to the suspension of the lower divisions due to the pandemic.
This game was decided in the first period when the Americans jumped to a 3-0 lead on two goals from Kevin LaBanc and another from Conor Garland. The latter added his second of the game in the middle frame, but Italy showed some fight and pulled a couple back through captain Luca Frigo and a first international goal from Stefano Giliati.
