World Championship day 2: Kazakhs start with win
Three goals from behind the net saw Kazakhstan open its World Championship campaign with victory over France. Also in Group B, Latvia was dragged all the way to overtime by newly-promoted Poland before escaping with a 5-4 victory. The other newcomer, Great Britain, stunned Canada with the opening goal but fell to a 2-4 loss. Host nation Czechia had to rally from 1-3 to beat Norway, with Roman Cervenka scoring twice. There were comfortable victories for Denmark and the USA.
Group B
France 1 Kazakhstan 3 (1-2, 0-1, 0-0)
Kazakhstan got its World Championship campaign off to a great start with victory over France. Saturday’s early game was the first – and probably only – time active KHLers would line up on opposing teams in the Czech Republic. France included Avtomobilist center Stephane Da Costa, while Kazakhstan, as usual, leaned heavily on the Barys roster.
The French opened the scoring on two minutes through Enzo Cantagallo, but barely a minute later Roman Starchenko put Kazakhstan level. It was a goal out of nothing, but the French defense left the Kazakh captain all alone behind the net and he needed no second invitation to strike on the wraparound. Starchenko could reach 100 competitive international appearances in this tournament, and 50 in top division World Championship play. Both would be national records.
“Even when we were down 1-0, we didn’t panic,” said Torpedo’s Dmitry Breus, who made his World Championship debut in the game. “We just wanted to get back into the game, we gave it our all and we scored some goals.”
The first power play of the game saw Kazakhstan get in front on seven minutes. Again, the play came from behind the net but this time Maxim Mukhametov bounced the puck off the back of French goalie Sebastien Ylonen to find the target.
Another wraparound play late in the second period saw Kirill Savitsky make it 3-1, this time on the penalty kill. That was enough to sink France and give Kazakhstan an early advantage in the battle against relegation – or potentially a platform to push for a first ever quarter-final spot?
“Our coaches told us how important this game was,” Breus added. “We know that every team at this championship is very good, and we’re getting ready for every game in the same way. But we also know that France and Poland are the games where we need to be our best.”
Poland 4 Latvia 5 OT (1-0, 1-1, 2-3, 0-1)
After 22 years, Poland returned to the top division of the IIHF World Championship – and made an immediate impression. Up against a Latvian team that won its first ever medal last season, the Poles led three times in regulation and regrouped after falling behind late on to force overtime.
It wasn’t quite enough. Latvia’s experience told with veteran Kaspars Daugavins potting an OT winner. But it suggested that the Poles are not merely making up the numbers at this year’s tournament.
Poland’s unlikely hero was forward Krysztof Macias. When the Poles last played among the elite in 2002, he wasn’t even born. Today, the 19-year-old, who plays in the WHL in Canada, wrote himself into his country’s hockey history with two goals.
Macias broke the deadlock in the first period, getting the only goal with a deflected effort in the 16th minute. At the other end, Latvia had chances and outshot Poland 12-5 but could not solve John Murray. However, when Roberts Mamcics tied it up early in the second, many in the Ostrava crowd assumed the rest of the game would unfold as planned.
Poland had other ideas. Kamil Walega restored the lead midway through the second. Then the third period brought a similar exchange of scoring: Rodrigo Abols for Latvia in the 43rd minute, followed by Macias’s second of the night on 47:56.
This was a big test for Latvia, which had to draw on all of its World Championship experience to escape a shock defeat. Daugavins tied the game at 3-3 with seven minutes to play, then the Bukarts brothers, Roberts and Rihards combined for the latter to put his country up 4-3 in the 55th.
"We scored three goals into our own net, but we showed heart," said Roberts Bukarts. "That's the most important thing. We'll look at this game with the coaches and try to cut down on our mistakes and play better tomorrow. We are always the same team ... we fight to make the quarter-finals and see what happens."
Even after falling behind, Poland kept battling. There was another twist when Mateusz Bryk tied it up once again to force overtime, but a second of the night from Daugavins saw Latvia over the line.
USA 6 Germany 1 (2-0, 2-1, 2-0)
Team USA bounced back from an opening night defeat to Sweden and downed last year’s silver medallist, Germany.
The Americans did more with their chances in a fairly even first period, and opened a 2-0 lead on goals from Brady Tkachuk and Michael Kesselring. Early in the second period, the USA lost starting goalie Alex Lyon to injury, with Trey Augustine coming into the game. After that, the teams traded goals: Johnny Gaudreau on the power play for the USA, Yasin Ehliz pulling one back for Germany.
Quinn Hughes grabbed a fourth goal for the USA with three seconds to play in the middle frame, and that proved to be a gamebreaker. The Germans had nothing to offer in the third and subsided to a heavy loss.
Group A
Great Britain 2 Canada 4 (1-1, 0-3, 1-0)
Connor Bedard scored twice on his World Championship debut to crush British hopes of an upset win. The 18-year-old prodigy already has a prolific scoring record in U18 and U20 play, and effortlessly stepped up to senior play in Prague.
Bedard struck twice in the second period, pushing the defending champion into a 4-1 lead after a sticky start. Michael Bunting and Brandon Hagel were the other Canadian scorers.
However, newly-promoted GB left the game with credit. Liam Kirk stunned a 16,900 crowd at the O2 Arena when he fired the Brits ahead in the first period. And although Canada took control in the middle frame, Britain had the final word thanks to a highlight-reel play from Ben O’Connor to make the score 2-4. O’Connor played in Kazakhstan earlier in his career and was close to signing for Barys at one point, which would have made him the first British player in the KHL.
Austria 1 Denmark 5 (1-2, 0-1, 0-2)
Joachim Blichfeld had two goals and an assist to lead Denmark to a comfortable victory over Austria in Prague.
Both countries came into this game looking for a win that would determine the focus of their campaign. Today’s victor could hope for a tilt at the quarter-finals, while the loser would already be glancing anxiously at the relegation battle.
In the event, Denmark prevailed with some ease, outshooting Austria 34-17 and never looking troubled after Fredrik Storm and Markus Lauridsen opened a 2-0 lead in the first period.
Austria pulled a goal back before the intermission, but got no closer. Blichfeld increased the lead in the second and wrapped up a 5-1 win late in third. Felix Scheel potted the other Danish goal.
Norway 3 Czechia 6 (3-2, 0-1, 0-2)
A pulsating game wrapped up Saturday’s action in Prague, with underdog Norway following the example of Britain and Poland to push a medal contender all the way.
The Czechs, shoot-out winners over Finland on Friday, began strongly and former SKA and Avangard forward Roman Cervenka gave the host nation an early lead. But Norway’s youngsters turned the game around: 18-year-old defenseman Stian Solberg tied it up 30 seconds later, then a shorthanded goal from 19-year-old Noah Steen gave the Vikings the lead. Solberg then set up Eirik Salsten for 3-1 before Cervenka gave his team a lifeline late in a breathless opening frame.
In the second, Czechia dominated from start to finish. Outshooting Norway 20-1, the host found Henrik Haukeland in outstanding form between the piping. It wasn’t until the 36th minute that Ondrej Beranek found the tying goal, helped by a Norwegian line change that left the defense exposed.
Norway’s bright start had evaporated, and the Scandinavians managed just five shots in the second and third periods combined. Czech pressure eventually paid off, with goals from Matej Stransky, Libor Hajek and Ondrej Palat securing the win.
Main photo: Xavier Laine / Getty Sport / GettyImages.ru
