Kurashev gives Swiss a shoot-out win
The big game on Day four of the World Championship saw the Czech hosts take on undefeated Switzerland. It promised to be tight and it went all the way to a shoot-out before the Swiss edged the verdict. Elsewhere, Slovakia survived a scare to defeat the USA in overtime and there were big wins for Finland and Sweden.
Group A
Norway 1 Finland 4 (0-2, 1-2, 0-0)
Oliver Kapanen continued his scoring form with two goals as Finland sunk Norway. Kapanen followed his hat-trick against Great Britain with the opener against the Norwegians, and potted his second of the game midway through the second period. In between, team-mate Arttu Hyry also scored twice.
Norway had some consolation: when Max Krogdahl jumped out of the penalty box to score on Harri Sateri late in the middle frame, it was the first time Finland had allowed a goal outside of a shoot-out in this tournament.
The third period was goalless. Finland moves to two wins from three games while the Norwegians – who were without Mats Zuccarello today – are still seeking a first victory.
Switzerland 2 Czech Republic 1 SO (1-0, 0-1, 0-0, 1-0)
Another packed house in Prague witnessed a hard-fought battle between two teams defending their undefeated records in the tournament so far.
Switzerland struck first, scoring off the first power play of the evening. Kevin Fiala, making his first appearance of the tournament, got the goal as the Swiss PP improved to seven from 10.
It took the Czechs some time to start testing the Swiss, but midway through the second period the host nation tied it up. Matej Stransky, who plays his club hockey in Switzerland for Davos, smashed home a one-timer. That was the first Czech power play goal of the competition.
After that, the teams could not score again in an increasingly uncompromising encounter. In the shoot-out, Fiala and Stransky both converted their attempts, but the winning effort went to Switzerland’s Philipp Kurashev.
Group B
USA 4 Slovakia 5 OT (0-2, 1-2, 3-0, 0-1)
The Americans produced a big recovery from 1-4 to take this game into overtime, but stil ended on the losing side. Milos Keleman’s goal in the extras saw Slovakia take a tight verdict, despite the USA leading the shot count 43-25.
Earlier, it all seemed so easy for Slovakia. Keleman grabbed an early opener and former KHLer Libor Hudacek doubled the lead in the first period.
The Americans hit back in the second when Matt Boldy banged the puck into a wide open net. Uncle Sam went on to dominate the middle frame. However, that Boldy effort was the only one of 21 attempts that got past Samuel Hlavaj in the Slovak net. At the other end, Simon Nemec and Patrick Koch stretched the lead to 4-1, bringing 19-year-old goalie Trey Augustine off the bench for his second appearance of the tournament.
In the final stanza, team USA turned possession into goals. Shane Pinto and Brady Tkachuk got it back to 3-4 with six to play, then Luke Hughes tied it up on 56:38.
Germany 1 Sweden 6 (0-3, 0-2, 1-1)
Sweden proved too strong for last year’s silver medallist, easing to a convincing victory over Germany to maintain its perfect start to the tournament.
The game was effectively settled in the first period, with goals from Erik Karlsson, Marcus Pettersson and Victor Olofsson building a 3-0 lead. Former Spartak defenseman Tim Heed assisted on the Pettersson tally.
Hopes of a German fightback were extinguished five minutes into the second when Carl Grundstrom added a fourth. At the midway point Andre Burakovsky made it 5-0, while the Germans struggled to create anything in reply.
The third brought some consolation for Germany, with Leonard Pfoderl robbing Samuel Ersson of a shut-out. Isac Lundestrom completed the scoring with a sixth Swedish goal.
