World Championship: heavy loss for Latvia, Canada tops Finns
Latvia’s hopes of progress at the 2024 IIHF World Championship took a knock when a record-breaking goal rush saw Sweden romp to a 7-2 win. Elsewhere in Group B, Slovakia beat France, piling up the pressure on the Latvians ahead of their meeting tomorrow. In Group A, the top three all won: Canada outlasted Finland for a 5-3 scoreline, Switzerland scored eight on Denmark and the Czechs eased past Britain.
Group A
Denmark 0 Switzerland 8 (0-2, 0-3, 0-3)
Stunning scoring efficiency from Switzerland powered an emphatic victory over Denmark. The Swiss scored eight goals on 29 shots as Denmark’s goalies suffered a Saturday morning hangover in the weekend’s early game.
The Danes were looking to build on victory over Great Britain and had hopes of a result that would keep its playoff prospects alive. Instead, it suffered a hammering that effectively ends its chances of reaching the last eight.
Two Swiss goals from six first period shots set the tone. Once again, Nico Hischier opened the scoring early. Then Roman Josi doubled the lead late in the session. After the break, Kevin Fiala scored a quick double before Switzerland turned to its secondary scoring. Sven Senteler, Calvin Thurkauf, Christoph Berschey and Tristan Scherwey all found the net to complete a crushing victory. Leonardo Genoni made 17 saves for his country’s second shut-out of the World Championship.
Canada 5 Finland 3 (2-2, 1-1, 2-0)
A comeback win for Canada confirmed the defending champion’s place in the knock-out phase despite some underpowered play in the group stage. Finland, meanwhile, could face a battle to secure fourth place in Group after falling to a third loss in five games. A resurgent Austria, which famously beat the Finns for the first time in Prague, has an eye on progress, while Norway could yet come into contention.
Today, Finland started well but could not hold a lead. Jesse Puljularvi and Valtteri Puustinen opened a 2-0 lead inside four minutes, but Canada responded to tie the game before the intermission. Puljularvi struck again in the second, then suffered a painful slash between the legs that saw Bowen Byram ejected from the game. However, Puljularvi’s reaction saw him sit for roughing and during a passage of four-on-four place Owen Power tied it up at 3-3.
Midway through the third Brandon Hagel put Canada in front for the first time and that proved to be the winner. Dawson Mercer’s empty-netter sealed the deal.
Czech Republic 4 Great Britain 1 (2-0, 2-1, 0-0)
The Czechs welcomed Martin Necas to the team just 41 hours after his Carolina Hurricane came out of the NHL playoffs. He immediately slotted into the second line with Ondrej Palat and David Tomasek – but his arrival was overshadowed by Roman Cervenka and Lukas Sedlak.
Captain Cervenka had four assists, two of them on goals from Sedlak, in a comfortable victory over GB. Cervenka’s first chance came when he got clear of the British after just 16 seconds, but the visiting defense did not heed the lesson. Cervenka’s second rush was halted by a Ben Bowns poke check and Sedlak was on hand to put away the rebound. Two minutes later, Jakub Krejcik’s first World Championship goal made it 2-0 and things looked bleak for GB.
The second period began with two more quick goals. Cervenka and Sedlak executed a flawless two-on-one rush, but Britain found a response this time with a power play effort from Evan Mosey. The Czechs extended their lead midway through with the PP goal of their own, Cervenka playing his part in a nifty passing play for Ondrej Kase to score. That was the end of the scoring as the Czechs continued to dominate without adding to their lead.
Group B
Latvia 2 Sweden 7 (0-2, 2-4, 0-1)
Latvian hopes of reaching the quarter finals took a knock with a heavy loss to Sweden. Last year’s bronze medallist memorably beat the Tre Kronor in the last eight on its way to a best-ever result in the championship. Today, the Swedes exacted revenge for that defeat as Latvia lost ground in the race for the top four.
Sweden got on top early with goals from Rasmus Dahlin and Jonas Brodin. However, the Latvians made an even faster start in the second period as Kaspars Daugavins and Roberts Mamcics tied the game with two goals in 23 seconds. Sweden’s problems increased when Dahlin, one of seven first-round draft picks at this year’s tournament, was ejected from the game in the middle frame.
However, not only did Latvia fail to score on the major penalty, it then fell to a record-breaking goal rush. Sweden potted three in 26 seconds between 32:59 and 33:25, beating a mark set by Canada in 1986. Fabian Zetterlund got the first two, then Joel Eriksson Ek took the score to 5-2. Marcus Pettersson and Marcus Johansson completed the scoring.
Germany 4 Poland 2 (0-0, 2-0, 2-2)
Not for the first time in this tournament, Poland produced a competitive performance but was let down by its inability to take chances. In particular, the Polish power play suffered: 0-for-2 on the day and now 0-for-18 in the competition. With Germany moving into form on the back of big wins over Latvia and Kazakhstan, failure to thrive with a man advantage was always likely to be costly.
Another strong defensive display from Poland kept the first period goalless. Germany made the breakthrough in the second thanks to Alexander Ehl, and JJ Peterka doubled the lead with a penalty shot late in the middle frame. Then Yasin Ehliz added a third in the 45th minute to seemingly extinguish the contest.
Poland kept battling, and found a way back into the game with two goals in the closing stages. Patryk Wadja and Filip Komorski struck two minutes apart to make it a one-goal game. However, before the Poles could play on any German nerves, Peterka’s second of the game secured a win the puts Germany second behind Sweden. Poland, still seeking its first win, must beat Kazakhstan in its final game to have any hope of staying in the top division.
France 2 Slovakia 4 (0-1, 1-2, 1-1)
Two more goals from Libor Hudacek put Slovakia within touching distance of a playoff spot. Saturday’s win over France lifts the Slovaks to third in the standings, four point clear of Latvia in fifth. Slovakia plays Latvia in tomorrow’s late game in Ostrava.
The French have struggled in this tournament, but put up a fight in the first period. However, right before the hooter, Pavol Regenda jumped out of the box to give Slovakia a slightly undeserved lead.
In the middle frame, Hudacek struck twice to extend that lead to 3-0. Sacha Treille’s French consolation goal late in the session meant little: Hudacek turned provider in the third for Martin Grman to make it 4-1. Florian Chakiachvili’s late goal made no difference to the outcome.
Main photo: Eurasia Sport Images / Getty Sport / GettyImages.ru
