2009 IIHF World Championship
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Galactus
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Russia dominates Germany
BERNE – Thoroughbreds versus Clydesdales. Lamborghinis versus Trabis. You can pick your favourite analogy, but the defending champs from Russia thoroughly outclassed Germany in a 5-0 win on Day One at PostFinance Arena.
Oleg Saprykin, Ilya Kovalchuk, Sergei Zinoviev, Anton Kuryanov, and Danis Zaripov scored for Russia, which fired 40 shots on goal. Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov made 20 saves en route to his first career IIHF World Championship shutout.
The Russians controlled the tempo and pace of the game. When they wanted the puck, they got it, and they did as they pleased. Their Group B opponents simply couldn't keep up.
To the credit of the Russians, they didn't start running around and trying to inflate their personal statistics after building a three-goal lead in the opening period, either.
Russia opened the scoring at 8:14 when Alexander Radulov fed a lovely cross-crease pass to Saprykin, who put it in the open side.
At 9:37, Kovalchuk stretched the lead to 2-0 when he burst in off left wing on a breakaway, faked out German goalie Dimitri Pätzold multiple times, and zinged a low wrister home.
It was 3-0 for Russia at 15:25 after Oleg Tverdovsky sent the puck from the point toward the German net, where Zinoviev picked it up and deposited it past Patzold.
Although the second period was scoreless, the Russians continued to dominate play. They got Germany to take three penalties and rarely allowed their opponents quality scoring chances, even though the Germans outshot Russia 10-7 in the period.
At 2:53 of the third period, Kuryanov accepted a beautiful breakaway pass from Zaripov, raced in, and tucked a backhander between Pätzold's pads to make it 4-0.
Zaripov scored the fifth Russian goal with the man advantage, completing a sweet passing play from the edge of the crease with 8:08 remaining.
Bryzgalov made perhaps his best save of the night with under two minutes left, getting his left pad on an in-close attempt by Michael Hackert off the rush. When the final buzzer sounded, defenceman Vitali Proshkin scooped up the puck and handed it to his netminder.
Russia only dressed 18 skaters (10 forwards and eight defencemen), evidently anticipating reinforcements from the NHL playoffs. The German roster featured two NHLers: Buffalo's Jochen Hecht and Ottawa's Christoph Schubert.
Announced attendance was 10,577. The crowd gave Russian Hockey Federation president Vladislav Tretiak a big cheer when he participated in the Player of the Game presentations. Zaripov was honoured for Russia, and Kai Hospelt for Germany.
Canada waltzes to 6-1 win
ZURICH-KLOTEN – Dany Heatley had two goals and an assist and Steve Stamkos had two goals in his first World Championship game to lead Canada to an easy 6-1 win over Belarus in Kloten.
It’s been a long and crazy year for Steve Stamkos. The first overall draft choice last year had a rocky start to his rookie season with Tampa Bay under coach Barry Melrose, but by the end of the year Melrose was gone and Stamkos was a star. Today he scored twice in the first period to give Canada a cushion it never surrendered.
The Tampa Bay duo of veteran Martin St. Louis and the 19-year-old Stamkos combined for the first goal after just 65 seconds, St. Louis coming down the left wing and firing a hard pass in front. Driving hard to the net, Stamkos had only to get his stick on the ice and redirect it past a helpless Vitali Koval.
Stamkos’s second goal was almost the same. It came on the power play on a give-and-go with Drew Doughty. Stamkos passed to Doughty on the left, went to the net and got the return pass which he redirected into the goal for a 2-0 Canada lead after one period. Canada outshot Belarus 18-4 in the opening 20 minutes.
Belarus appeared to get back into the game thanks to a miscue by Roloson behind his own goal. He fumbled the puck and defenceman Luke Schenn left it, thinking Roloson was going to play it. As a result, Mikhail Grabovski put the puck into the empty net. But, video review showed that as he tried to get back into the goal, Roloson knocked the net off its moorings, nullifying the goal.
Grabovski had another great chance midway through the second period, outwaiting Roloson and staring at a wide-open net. But as he shot, the sprawled Roloson recovered to throw a pad in the air and make the highlight-reel save.
Canada exploded for four goals in the third, two from Heatley. The first was an all-Ottawa Senators goal, Heatley faking a shot and sliding the puck to Jason Spezza who roofed it over Koval at 4:27. Another great two-way passing play saw James Neal feed Mike Fisher for an easy goal. Heatley closed out the scoring for Canada with a pair of goals.
Grabovski, by far Belarus’s best player, finally connected late in the game off a Roloson rebound.
BERNE – Thoroughbreds versus Clydesdales. Lamborghinis versus Trabis. You can pick your favourite analogy, but the defending champs from Russia thoroughly outclassed Germany in a 5-0 win on Day One at PostFinance Arena.
Oleg Saprykin, Ilya Kovalchuk, Sergei Zinoviev, Anton Kuryanov, and Danis Zaripov scored for Russia, which fired 40 shots on goal. Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov made 20 saves en route to his first career IIHF World Championship shutout.
The Russians controlled the tempo and pace of the game. When they wanted the puck, they got it, and they did as they pleased. Their Group B opponents simply couldn't keep up.
To the credit of the Russians, they didn't start running around and trying to inflate their personal statistics after building a three-goal lead in the opening period, either.
Russia opened the scoring at 8:14 when Alexander Radulov fed a lovely cross-crease pass to Saprykin, who put it in the open side.
At 9:37, Kovalchuk stretched the lead to 2-0 when he burst in off left wing on a breakaway, faked out German goalie Dimitri Pätzold multiple times, and zinged a low wrister home.
It was 3-0 for Russia at 15:25 after Oleg Tverdovsky sent the puck from the point toward the German net, where Zinoviev picked it up and deposited it past Patzold.
Although the second period was scoreless, the Russians continued to dominate play. They got Germany to take three penalties and rarely allowed their opponents quality scoring chances, even though the Germans outshot Russia 10-7 in the period.
At 2:53 of the third period, Kuryanov accepted a beautiful breakaway pass from Zaripov, raced in, and tucked a backhander between Pätzold's pads to make it 4-0.
Zaripov scored the fifth Russian goal with the man advantage, completing a sweet passing play from the edge of the crease with 8:08 remaining.
Bryzgalov made perhaps his best save of the night with under two minutes left, getting his left pad on an in-close attempt by Michael Hackert off the rush. When the final buzzer sounded, defenceman Vitali Proshkin scooped up the puck and handed it to his netminder.
Russia only dressed 18 skaters (10 forwards and eight defencemen), evidently anticipating reinforcements from the NHL playoffs. The German roster featured two NHLers: Buffalo's Jochen Hecht and Ottawa's Christoph Schubert.
Announced attendance was 10,577. The crowd gave Russian Hockey Federation president Vladislav Tretiak a big cheer when he participated in the Player of the Game presentations. Zaripov was honoured for Russia, and Kai Hospelt for Germany.
Canada waltzes to 6-1 win
ZURICH-KLOTEN – Dany Heatley had two goals and an assist and Steve Stamkos had two goals in his first World Championship game to lead Canada to an easy 6-1 win over Belarus in Kloten.
It’s been a long and crazy year for Steve Stamkos. The first overall draft choice last year had a rocky start to his rookie season with Tampa Bay under coach Barry Melrose, but by the end of the year Melrose was gone and Stamkos was a star. Today he scored twice in the first period to give Canada a cushion it never surrendered.
The Tampa Bay duo of veteran Martin St. Louis and the 19-year-old Stamkos combined for the first goal after just 65 seconds, St. Louis coming down the left wing and firing a hard pass in front. Driving hard to the net, Stamkos had only to get his stick on the ice and redirect it past a helpless Vitali Koval.
Stamkos’s second goal was almost the same. It came on the power play on a give-and-go with Drew Doughty. Stamkos passed to Doughty on the left, went to the net and got the return pass which he redirected into the goal for a 2-0 Canada lead after one period. Canada outshot Belarus 18-4 in the opening 20 minutes.
Belarus appeared to get back into the game thanks to a miscue by Roloson behind his own goal. He fumbled the puck and defenceman Luke Schenn left it, thinking Roloson was going to play it. As a result, Mikhail Grabovski put the puck into the empty net. But, video review showed that as he tried to get back into the goal, Roloson knocked the net off its moorings, nullifying the goal.
Grabovski had another great chance midway through the second period, outwaiting Roloson and staring at a wide-open net. But as he shot, the sprawled Roloson recovered to throw a pad in the air and make the highlight-reel save.
Canada exploded for four goals in the third, two from Heatley. The first was an all-Ottawa Senators goal, Heatley faking a shot and sliding the puck to Jason Spezza who roofed it over Koval at 4:27. Another great two-way passing play saw James Neal feed Mike Fisher for an easy goal. Heatley closed out the scoring for Canada with a pair of goals.
Grabovski, by far Belarus’s best player, finally connected late in the game off a Roloson rebound.
Galactus
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USA doubles Latvia
BERNE – In early Group C action on Saturday, defenceman Jack Johnson scored twice as the USA opened its tournament with a 4-2 win over Latvia.
Johnson has already doubled his offensive output from Canada 2008, where he scored one goal in seven games as an IIHF World Championship rookie. The USA is looking for its first World Championship medal since claiming bronze in 2004.
Drew Stafford and Patrick O'Sullivan also scored for the USA. Herberts Vasiljevs and Martins Karsums replied for Latvia.
With the win, the Americans stretched their unbeaten streak against Latvia at the Worlds to six games. The last time Latvia beat the USA was a 2-0 shutout for Arturs Irbe on April 30, 2001 at the World Championship in Germany.
"We made some mistakes and they capitalized on them," said Latvia's Karlis Skrastins. "They’ve just been together for a few days, but they had more speed and power."
The first half of the game was mostly played in a free-skating style that took advantage of the international-sized ice surface and didn't feature much body contact. This was a good thing for Latvia. But when the Americans picked up their intensity, the Latvians couldn't keep pace.
"You want to face a little bit of adversity and test your character somewhat," said USA head coach Ron Wilson. "We did a lot of little things well. We don’t have to be great in the first couple of games, but we want to get better with each performance."
Johnson took an interference minor 4:31 in, and just nine seconds later the Latvians struck for the opening goal with the man advantage. Vasiljevs was left uncovered in front of the USA net and converted a slick feed from Aleksandrs Nizivijs.
But Johnson wouldn't take long to make amends. He evened the score at 11:15 with a goal from the right point that appeared to tip as it eluded Latvian goalie Edgars Masalskis.
Latvia jumped into a 2-1 lead at 6:39 of the second period when Girts Ankipans sent a quick pass from behind the goal line to Karsums, who beat USA netminder Robert Esche with his quick release.
At 11:13, the Americans made it 2-2 after some aggressive forechecking. Stafford surprised Masalskis with a bad-angle shot along the goal line.
With under six minutes left, Stafford cut through traffic to the net with a backhand and Masalskis made a fine save with his right skate. But Masalskis wasn't so lucky seconds later when Johnson cut out of the corner and shoveled a forehand past the netminder's failed pokecheck for a 3-2 USA lead. The Americans outshot Latvia 17-4 in the middle frame.
Esche smartly stoned Janis Sprukts from the right faceoff circle on an early 2-on-1 in the third period.
With 13:57 left in the third, O'Sullivan snared the rebound from Ron Hainsey's centre point shot to give the Americans a two-goal lead.
"Out of all my years in this tournament, I think tonight was the best I’ve seen us play against Latvia," said Esche.
The Latvians pressed for the equalizer in the late stages, but they couldn't make any noise on the scoreboard.
In the stands, the PostFinance Arena crowd of 7,840 was dominated by Latvian supporters, chanting and pounding drums in their inimitable style.
Final shots on goal favoured the USA 38-19. Johnson was named the USA's Player of the Game, and Karsums claimed the honours for Latvia.
On Monday, the USA faces Austria, and Latvia will take on Sweden.
"I haven’t coached internationally on a big ice surface since 1998, so I have to catch up with what everybody is doing tactically," said Wilson. "Nobody plays like this in the NHL, so it’s an educational experience for me as well."
Finland blanks Norway 5-0
ZURICH-KLOTEN – Finland wasted almost no time in establishing their game with a 5-0 victory over Norway. Pekka Rinne made 30 stops for the shutout. Finland played their usual stifling style of defence while Norway found it difficult to stay out of the penalty box.
Antti Mietinen scored the game winner in the first period.
"This was a good result for us," said Niko Kapanen. "We were the better team and ready to play. It was good we scored early."
The tempo was far from back and forth. Finland controlled most of the action and kept pressure squarely focused in Norway’s end of the ice. For Roy Johansen's team discipline was a problem on the day. Penalties would be Norway’s undoing in this game.
At 12:16 of the first Juha Kaunismaki was called for interference allowing Finland to set up its first power play of the afternoon. Miettinen responded with a goal at 13:44 to put his team on the scoreboard. Niklas Hagman got the lone assist.
"We expected a lot of penalties and a tight game but our power play was good for us today," said Miettinen.
When Mads Hansen was caught hooking, Jarkko Immonen scored to make it 2-0. Niko Kapanen would add another power play goal in the period.
For Immonen it was his first World Championship goal in his debut game.
Mika Pyörälä added a middle frame goal and Mikko Lehtonen another in the third en route to a 5-0 win in their opening game of the 2009 IIHF World Championships.
Pyörälä, a fourth liner, scored his first goal in 18 games of World Championship competition.
Norway would get a few chances with the best coming in the third but throughout Finland’s close quarter defence kept most of the shots on the periphery, allowing Rinne to see the shots coming his way.
Near the end of the game, Norway showed its frustration and things were a little more intense than they had been. Several scrums saw players jawing back and forth after the whistle.
The game marked the 14th time that defenceman Petteri Nummelin has represented Finland at the World Championships. It’s a run that’s included a gold, four silver, two bronze.
"It is always a bonus when you have a player like him on the team," said Miettinen. "Every year he is one of the top defensemen in the tournament. He is a real leader for us."
On Monday, Norway takes on the Czech Republic while Finland faces Denmark
Sweden off to a flying start
BERNE – Sweden left nothing to chance in its Group C game against Austria, taking a quick 3-0 lead in the first period, and leaving Austria in the dust. By the time Tre Kronor were done, the score was 7-1.
The script is always the same in the early games of the World Championship. An established hockey nation takes on a smaller one, whose only chance is to defend, defend, and defend, hoping that the longer the game stays goalless, the more frustrated the favourites will become, thus opening a window for an upsetting goal.
Austria’s plans were crashed at 1:37 when Sweden captain Kenny Jönsson got Johan Harju’s rebound and tapped it into a practically open Austrian net. Ten minutes another offensive defenceman, Magnus Johansson, took a cross-ice pass from Martin Thörnberg and one-timed it to the topshelf, beating Bernd Brückler on the glove side.
"To have a chance, we would have needed a good start. Tonight, we had a terrible start," said Austria's head coach Lars Bergström.
"Sweden played really well in the first period. We played better in the second better, even if Sweden also maybe eased up a bit. Had we scored on our powerplay, maybe the game would have looked different," he added.
In the next shift, a Swedish player had once again parked on Brückler’s doorstep. Defenceman Niklas Grossman faked a shot, passed the puck to Marcus Nilsson, who tipped it in from a close range. For Linus Omark, the assist was his third point of the period.
In the second period, Austria breathed new life into an otherwise sleepy game, when Martin Oraze’s slapshot found its way through traffic into the topshelf of the Swedish net, beating crouching Johan Holmqvist on the glove side.
The goal gave Austria new hope, and they peppered the Swedish goal with shots, but Holmqvist turned them all away.
To the disappointment of hopeful Austrian fans, Mattias Weinhandl grabbed Loui Eriksson’s rebound in the line’s first shift in the third period, and slid a backhander between Brückler’s pads to make it 4-1 at 41:22.
"We played well in the first period, maybe we started to do things in a different way, a little more complicated in the second, and let them into the game," Sweden's head coach Bengt-Åke Gustafsson said.
"The score, 7-1, doesn’t truly reflect the nature of the game, because Austria played really well, and we had excellent goaltending tonight," he added.
At 47:00, Weinhandl and Tony Mårtensson were at it again. Omark sent a long cross-ice pass to the offensive blueline to Mårtensson, who took the puck deep, then dropped it to Weinhandl, who sent a wristshot to the back of the net.
Two minutes later, Omark was back on the ice - Sweden only dressed 11 forwards - and still hungry for points. His saucer hit the tape of Johan Harju's stick, Harju broke to the net and lifted the puck to the net.
"I couldn't have imagined anything like this before the game. Almost everything I did went right," Omark said.
He also took three penalties, which he shrugged off just as easily.
"Sometimes you're lucky in something, and unlucky in something else," he said.
At the end of the third period, Loui Eriksson showed why he scored 36 goals in the NHL this season when he broke to the slot, and sent a wrist shot to the top shelf, sealing the final score to 7-1.
But tonight belonged to Linus Omark, who collected five points in his first World Championship game.
"I've never scored five points before, I think my record in the Swedish Elitserien is four," Omark said, smiling.
Czechs bounce Danes, 5-0
ZURICH-KLOTEN – The Czech Republic began its quest for its first medal in three years by beating Denmark 5-0 tonight in Kloten. Jaromir Jagr and Petr Cajanek led the way with a goal and two assists each, and the team clicked for four goals on the power play. Jakub Stepanek made 21 saves for the shutout.
The win puts the Czechs and Finns in first place of Group D with three points each, while Denmark and Norway have no points.
"We played well five-on-five," Danish forward Mikkel Boedker said, "but when they have those skilled players like Hemsky and Jagr, they can set up the power play really well."
"This was a big win for us," Cajanek said. "It's always important to get off to a good start in this tournament and our power play very good as well as our penalty killing."
Jaroslav Hlinka opened the scoring at 6:09 on a flukey play. He found some free room down the left wing and moved in on goal, but just as he was about to shoot he was checked by Danish defenceman Mads Christensen. Hlinka lost the puck, but it slid through the pads of goalie Patrick Galbraith anyway. The Czechs dominated the period and only several pad saves by Galbraith prevented them from running up the score, which stayed at 1-0 after 20 minutes.
The Czechs broke the game open with three power-play goals in the second.
The teams exchanged delay of game penalties resulting from clearings that soared over the glass, but after killing off theirs the Czechs made it a 2-0 game. Karel Rachunek‘s point shot was beautifully deflected in the slot by Tomas Rolinek, but Galbraith reacted quickly and made a pad save. The rebound went right to Jan Marek who popped it into the open net at 11:07.
Another power-play goal a short time later upped the count to 3-0 as Petr Cajanek poked home a loose puck in the slot. "The puck was just lying there, and I got lucky," Cajanek said of his marker. The third power-play score came off a two-on-one rush, Jaromir Jagr lobbing a pass knee high across the crease where Ales Hemsky batted it past Galbraith.
Jagr scored his own power-play marker by swatting home a loose puck to the backside of Galbraith.
"The Czech Republic is always a very good team," Galbraith conceded, "and when they turned up the speed, we had a little bit of trouble. But all in all, we played pretty well."
The Czechs play next on Monday afternoon against Norway while Denmark plays Finland in the night match that day. "We have to play physical and play hard, and make it a fast game," Cajanek suggested.
BERNE – In early Group C action on Saturday, defenceman Jack Johnson scored twice as the USA opened its tournament with a 4-2 win over Latvia.
Johnson has already doubled his offensive output from Canada 2008, where he scored one goal in seven games as an IIHF World Championship rookie. The USA is looking for its first World Championship medal since claiming bronze in 2004.
Drew Stafford and Patrick O'Sullivan also scored for the USA. Herberts Vasiljevs and Martins Karsums replied for Latvia.
With the win, the Americans stretched their unbeaten streak against Latvia at the Worlds to six games. The last time Latvia beat the USA was a 2-0 shutout for Arturs Irbe on April 30, 2001 at the World Championship in Germany.
"We made some mistakes and they capitalized on them," said Latvia's Karlis Skrastins. "They’ve just been together for a few days, but they had more speed and power."
The first half of the game was mostly played in a free-skating style that took advantage of the international-sized ice surface and didn't feature much body contact. This was a good thing for Latvia. But when the Americans picked up their intensity, the Latvians couldn't keep pace.
"You want to face a little bit of adversity and test your character somewhat," said USA head coach Ron Wilson. "We did a lot of little things well. We don’t have to be great in the first couple of games, but we want to get better with each performance."
Johnson took an interference minor 4:31 in, and just nine seconds later the Latvians struck for the opening goal with the man advantage. Vasiljevs was left uncovered in front of the USA net and converted a slick feed from Aleksandrs Nizivijs.
But Johnson wouldn't take long to make amends. He evened the score at 11:15 with a goal from the right point that appeared to tip as it eluded Latvian goalie Edgars Masalskis.
Latvia jumped into a 2-1 lead at 6:39 of the second period when Girts Ankipans sent a quick pass from behind the goal line to Karsums, who beat USA netminder Robert Esche with his quick release.
At 11:13, the Americans made it 2-2 after some aggressive forechecking. Stafford surprised Masalskis with a bad-angle shot along the goal line.
With under six minutes left, Stafford cut through traffic to the net with a backhand and Masalskis made a fine save with his right skate. But Masalskis wasn't so lucky seconds later when Johnson cut out of the corner and shoveled a forehand past the netminder's failed pokecheck for a 3-2 USA lead. The Americans outshot Latvia 17-4 in the middle frame.
Esche smartly stoned Janis Sprukts from the right faceoff circle on an early 2-on-1 in the third period.
With 13:57 left in the third, O'Sullivan snared the rebound from Ron Hainsey's centre point shot to give the Americans a two-goal lead.
"Out of all my years in this tournament, I think tonight was the best I’ve seen us play against Latvia," said Esche.
The Latvians pressed for the equalizer in the late stages, but they couldn't make any noise on the scoreboard.
In the stands, the PostFinance Arena crowd of 7,840 was dominated by Latvian supporters, chanting and pounding drums in their inimitable style.
Final shots on goal favoured the USA 38-19. Johnson was named the USA's Player of the Game, and Karsums claimed the honours for Latvia.
On Monday, the USA faces Austria, and Latvia will take on Sweden.
"I haven’t coached internationally on a big ice surface since 1998, so I have to catch up with what everybody is doing tactically," said Wilson. "Nobody plays like this in the NHL, so it’s an educational experience for me as well."
Finland blanks Norway 5-0
ZURICH-KLOTEN – Finland wasted almost no time in establishing their game with a 5-0 victory over Norway. Pekka Rinne made 30 stops for the shutout. Finland played their usual stifling style of defence while Norway found it difficult to stay out of the penalty box.
Antti Mietinen scored the game winner in the first period.
"This was a good result for us," said Niko Kapanen. "We were the better team and ready to play. It was good we scored early."
The tempo was far from back and forth. Finland controlled most of the action and kept pressure squarely focused in Norway’s end of the ice. For Roy Johansen's team discipline was a problem on the day. Penalties would be Norway’s undoing in this game.
At 12:16 of the first Juha Kaunismaki was called for interference allowing Finland to set up its first power play of the afternoon. Miettinen responded with a goal at 13:44 to put his team on the scoreboard. Niklas Hagman got the lone assist.
"We expected a lot of penalties and a tight game but our power play was good for us today," said Miettinen.
When Mads Hansen was caught hooking, Jarkko Immonen scored to make it 2-0. Niko Kapanen would add another power play goal in the period.
For Immonen it was his first World Championship goal in his debut game.
Mika Pyörälä added a middle frame goal and Mikko Lehtonen another in the third en route to a 5-0 win in their opening game of the 2009 IIHF World Championships.
Pyörälä, a fourth liner, scored his first goal in 18 games of World Championship competition.
Norway would get a few chances with the best coming in the third but throughout Finland’s close quarter defence kept most of the shots on the periphery, allowing Rinne to see the shots coming his way.
Near the end of the game, Norway showed its frustration and things were a little more intense than they had been. Several scrums saw players jawing back and forth after the whistle.
The game marked the 14th time that defenceman Petteri Nummelin has represented Finland at the World Championships. It’s a run that’s included a gold, four silver, two bronze.
"It is always a bonus when you have a player like him on the team," said Miettinen. "Every year he is one of the top defensemen in the tournament. He is a real leader for us."
On Monday, Norway takes on the Czech Republic while Finland faces Denmark
Sweden off to a flying start
BERNE – Sweden left nothing to chance in its Group C game against Austria, taking a quick 3-0 lead in the first period, and leaving Austria in the dust. By the time Tre Kronor were done, the score was 7-1.
The script is always the same in the early games of the World Championship. An established hockey nation takes on a smaller one, whose only chance is to defend, defend, and defend, hoping that the longer the game stays goalless, the more frustrated the favourites will become, thus opening a window for an upsetting goal.
Austria’s plans were crashed at 1:37 when Sweden captain Kenny Jönsson got Johan Harju’s rebound and tapped it into a practically open Austrian net. Ten minutes another offensive defenceman, Magnus Johansson, took a cross-ice pass from Martin Thörnberg and one-timed it to the topshelf, beating Bernd Brückler on the glove side.
"To have a chance, we would have needed a good start. Tonight, we had a terrible start," said Austria's head coach Lars Bergström.
"Sweden played really well in the first period. We played better in the second better, even if Sweden also maybe eased up a bit. Had we scored on our powerplay, maybe the game would have looked different," he added.
In the next shift, a Swedish player had once again parked on Brückler’s doorstep. Defenceman Niklas Grossman faked a shot, passed the puck to Marcus Nilsson, who tipped it in from a close range. For Linus Omark, the assist was his third point of the period.
In the second period, Austria breathed new life into an otherwise sleepy game, when Martin Oraze’s slapshot found its way through traffic into the topshelf of the Swedish net, beating crouching Johan Holmqvist on the glove side.
The goal gave Austria new hope, and they peppered the Swedish goal with shots, but Holmqvist turned them all away.
To the disappointment of hopeful Austrian fans, Mattias Weinhandl grabbed Loui Eriksson’s rebound in the line’s first shift in the third period, and slid a backhander between Brückler’s pads to make it 4-1 at 41:22.
"We played well in the first period, maybe we started to do things in a different way, a little more complicated in the second, and let them into the game," Sweden's head coach Bengt-Åke Gustafsson said.
"The score, 7-1, doesn’t truly reflect the nature of the game, because Austria played really well, and we had excellent goaltending tonight," he added.
At 47:00, Weinhandl and Tony Mårtensson were at it again. Omark sent a long cross-ice pass to the offensive blueline to Mårtensson, who took the puck deep, then dropped it to Weinhandl, who sent a wristshot to the back of the net.
Two minutes later, Omark was back on the ice - Sweden only dressed 11 forwards - and still hungry for points. His saucer hit the tape of Johan Harju's stick, Harju broke to the net and lifted the puck to the net.
"I couldn't have imagined anything like this before the game. Almost everything I did went right," Omark said.
He also took three penalties, which he shrugged off just as easily.
"Sometimes you're lucky in something, and unlucky in something else," he said.
At the end of the third period, Loui Eriksson showed why he scored 36 goals in the NHL this season when he broke to the slot, and sent a wrist shot to the top shelf, sealing the final score to 7-1.
But tonight belonged to Linus Omark, who collected five points in his first World Championship game.
"I've never scored five points before, I think my record in the Swedish Elitserien is four," Omark said, smiling.
Czechs bounce Danes, 5-0
ZURICH-KLOTEN – The Czech Republic began its quest for its first medal in three years by beating Denmark 5-0 tonight in Kloten. Jaromir Jagr and Petr Cajanek led the way with a goal and two assists each, and the team clicked for four goals on the power play. Jakub Stepanek made 21 saves for the shutout.
The win puts the Czechs and Finns in first place of Group D with three points each, while Denmark and Norway have no points.
"We played well five-on-five," Danish forward Mikkel Boedker said, "but when they have those skilled players like Hemsky and Jagr, they can set up the power play really well."
"This was a big win for us," Cajanek said. "It's always important to get off to a good start in this tournament and our power play very good as well as our penalty killing."
Jaroslav Hlinka opened the scoring at 6:09 on a flukey play. He found some free room down the left wing and moved in on goal, but just as he was about to shoot he was checked by Danish defenceman Mads Christensen. Hlinka lost the puck, but it slid through the pads of goalie Patrick Galbraith anyway. The Czechs dominated the period and only several pad saves by Galbraith prevented them from running up the score, which stayed at 1-0 after 20 minutes.
The Czechs broke the game open with three power-play goals in the second.
The teams exchanged delay of game penalties resulting from clearings that soared over the glass, but after killing off theirs the Czechs made it a 2-0 game. Karel Rachunek‘s point shot was beautifully deflected in the slot by Tomas Rolinek, but Galbraith reacted quickly and made a pad save. The rebound went right to Jan Marek who popped it into the open net at 11:07.
Another power-play goal a short time later upped the count to 3-0 as Petr Cajanek poked home a loose puck in the slot. "The puck was just lying there, and I got lucky," Cajanek said of his marker. The third power-play score came off a two-on-one rush, Jaromir Jagr lobbing a pass knee high across the crease where Ales Hemsky batted it past Galbraith.
Jagr scored his own power-play marker by swatting home a loose puck to the backside of Galbraith.
"The Czech Republic is always a very good team," Galbraith conceded, "and when they turned up the speed, we had a little bit of trouble. But all in all, we played pretty well."
The Czechs play next on Monday afternoon against Norway while Denmark plays Finland in the night match that day. "We have to play physical and play hard, and make it a fast game," Cajanek suggested.
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Streit saves the day
BERNE – In Sunday's key battle of neighbouring rivals, Swiss captain Mark Streit scored on the power play at 1:18 of overtime to give the host nation a 3-2 victory over Germany.
Taking a pass from Martin Pluss, Streit teed up a howitzer through traffic that beat German goalie Dimitri Patzold high on the glove side and sent the red sea of Swiss fans into a frenzy. The goal came 37 seconds into the man advantage, with German defenceman Michael Bakos off for holding Severin Blindenbacher in the German zone.
"I don’t think the goalie saw it," said Switzerland's Ryan Gardner, who screened in front on the play. "That’s my job, and that’s what the coach says: 'Get in front of the net.' The French goalie saw a little too much [in the first game], but it went better today."
In many ways, this was the most anticipated game of the tournament for the two Group B nations. The result enhances Switzerland's chances of securing a quarter-final berth. The Swiss have made the Qualifying Round regardless of how they fare Tuesday versus Russia, while Germany needs a win over France that day to avoid the Relegation Round.
As expected, this was a low-scoring, tight affair, and the mesh that rippled most often was the protective netting hung at either end of the rink. Roman Wick and Mathias Seger scored in regulation time for Switzerland, while Christoph Ullmann and Christoph Schubert replied for Germany.
"It was a very exciting, emotional, and hard-fought game," said German head coach Uwe Krupp. "My team played even with the Swiss team in the first two periods. We had our chances but didn’t capitalize. At the end, the score reflects how the game was played."
The result extended the host country's World Championship winning streak against Germany to three games. The Germans haven't beaten Switzerland in IIHF World Championship play since a 3-0 win on April 28, 2002 in Sweden.
"For me, it was the best game between Switzerland and Germany in the 12 years that I have experienced them," said Swiss head coach Ralph Krueger. "It was a great hockey game, and there was great aggression in a positive sense. Everybody played hard. I don’t think there was anybody on either team that
didn't give their best."
Germany drew first blood on the power play at 6:26 when Ullmann collected a loose puck at the side of the net and, with Swiss goalie Martin Gerber already committed at the top of the crease, jammed it into the open cage.
At 8:36, the flag-waving Swiss fans were reenergized when Romano Lemm grabbed the puck behind the German net and centered it to Wick, who beat Patzold cleanly. Wick nearly repeated his feat on an identical set-up from Julien Sprunger during a subsequent Swiss man advantage.
With the score tied 1-1, the teams settled into more of a defensive groove in the second half of the period. Gerber had to be sharp to stymie the Germans on close-range chances during a penalty to Thomas Ziegler.
In the second period, the Swiss came out storming with physical and offensive zone pressure. In the opening minute, Switzerland's Thierry Paterlini shook up Michael Hackert with a solid hit inside the German blueline. Shortly afterwards, Goran Bezina drew the ire of the German bench with a crunching check that was nearly from behind. Chants of “Hopp Schwitz!” shook PostFinance Arena.
At 3:35, with a delayed penalty coming up to Germany, Seger stepped into a slapshot from the center point that blew past Patzold for a 2-1 Swiss lead.
The Germans buzzed Gerber's net on a mid-second period power play, but couldn't get the puck past the NHL-seasoned veteran. But at 13:02, Germany's Schubert got loose on a shorthanded breakaway and scored on his own rebound to make it 2-2.
As the middle frame wound down, it was the turn of the German fans to exult with chants of “Ole, ole, Super Deutschland!”
Switzerland got a big opportunity early in the third period, enjoying a two-man advantage with Schubert and Moritz Muller in the sin bin. Yet the Germans worked hard to block PP quarterback Streit's drives, and the Swiss only got a couple of decent chances from inside the left faceoff circle.
Only in overtime would Streit deliver the relief the vocal Swiss crowd craved. Switzerland outshot Germany 38-22, including the only two shots in the extra session.
"The team was tested mentally when Germany went up by 1-0, and then when we gave up a painful shorthanded goal in the third period," said Krueger. "But in the end, we deserved the win, the way the third period and the overtime went."
On a curious note, Germany's Hackert suffered damage to his #33 jersey during the game and replaced it with a #55 jersey with no name on the back. Bakos, who got cut over the right eye from a hit in Germany's 5-0 loss to Russia, returned to the lineup wearing a face shield
Mezin shuts down Slovakia
ZURICH-KLOTEN- In a goaltending duel and exciting finish, Belarus defeated Slovakia 2-1 in a shootout to win their first game of the tournament. Oleg Antonenko’s shootout goal sealed the victory.
Belarus netminder Andrei Mezin, making his first start of the tournament, and Slovakia’s Rastislav Stana, kept their respective teams in the game with big stops throughout the contest.
Andrei Stas’ second period goal held for most of the game until Marcel Hossa tied it with less than three minutes remaining in the game to bring Slovakia back.
Belarus would get its share of chances throughout, certainly better that they were able to get on Friday against Canada. Indeed, it was a stronger effort as Belarus stayed fairly disciplined and did not give up chances easily.
Belarus took only three minor penalties in the game.
At the same time, Mezin, who made 26 saves, was on his game. In many ways today was reminiscent of his performance at the 2006 World Championships in Riga, Latvia.
Mezin was able to backstop Belarus to a 2-1 win over Slovakia in the Preliminary Round of that tournament.
For the better part of the game boisterous Slovak supporters could get their side going. But once Hossa scored, the arena erupted and the team had new life.
The action was fairly well paced with both teams cautiously circling each other like two boxers in the middle of a ring. Without a clear finisher in their lineup, Slovakia wasn’t able to take advantage despite having the better scoring opportunities.
“We did not have the start we wanted,” said Stana. “We wanted to put more pressure and get more shots but it is very difficult because they back up and have five players at center ice.”
Andrei Stas would score his first goal of the tournament- and the first for Belarus here in Kloten- at even strength. Stas, a 20 year old Minsk native, send a shot stick side that Stana was unable to stop.
From there, Belarus further tightened up their defensive play while the Slovakians would press even more to equalize the game.
“All of our players play hard every shift,” said Grabovski. “We play a simple, easy game but we have fast forwards who are strong on the puck.”
In the third period, Slovak got some scoring chances but Belarus’ Mikhail Grabovski had the best when he moved in on goal but could not raise the puck over Stana’s pad.
As well, Mezin make a great right pad save on Petr Smrek who left his point position and moved in on goal.
With time winding down and desperation kicking in, Slovakia began to further press. Hossa was tenacious deep in the Belarus zone and his hard work finally paid off and he solved Mezin to knot the score at one.
Belarus drew a late penalty but could not convert as the game was sent to a shootout.
Belarus won the right to shoot first, and it unfolded as follows (according to the IIHF game-winning shots procedure, in which three different shooters from each team take alternate shots until a decisive goal is scored--and if the game is still tied after three shots by each team, the GWS continues with a tie-break shootout by one player of each team, with the shooting order reversed):


Round 1: BLR, Antonenko - goal, wrist shot. SVK, Ruzicka - goal, wrist shot
Round 2: BLR, Grabovski - no goal. SVK, Nagy – Mezin pad save


Round 3: BLR, Kaliuzhny – no goal. SVK, Bartecko – miss, backhand shot over net.
Round 4: SVK, Ruzicka – Mezin, pad save. BLR, Antonenko – goal, wrist shot
Oleg Antonenko ends up the hero for Belarus and gets Glen Hanlon his first World Championship win since returning behind the bench.
Canadian Crunch – 9-0
ZURICH-KLOTEN – Playing for the first time in 71 years, Canada overwhelmed Hungary by a 9-0 score. A dozen different players earned at least a point in the game. Martin St. Louis had a hat trick plus an assist to lead the attack. Chris Mason, playing in his first game after joining the team once his NHL’s St. Louis Blues were eliminated, earned the shutout by stopping 16 shots. Canada fired 51 shots the other way.
"I was pretty nervous going in," Mason admitted. "You know it's going to be the kind of game where you're not going to get a lot of shots, so I worked on staying focused, and I think I did that."
The win puts Canada in first place of Group A with six points, and the loss leaves Hungary pointless after two games.
In truth, the game resembled something from the 1930s when Canada would play virtually the entire game in its opponent’s end. The rabid Hungarian fans were left to cheer when one of their own players simply checked the puck off a Canadian stick, and a veritable roar erupted when they recorded a shot on goal.
Canada was so vastly superior that the game featured many penalties against the Hungarians as they were beaten to every loose puck, outmuscled, and outskilled every minute of the game.
The first goal came at 5:18 after Canada played virtually the entire game to this point in the Hungary end, an Ian White point shot deftly deflected in front by St. Louis past goalie Levente Szuper.
"We wanted to come out strong and come out hungry, and we knew they'd be ready to play," said Mike Fisher. "We did a good job in all areas using our speed and size, and we didn't let up."
Indeed, they didn't. The second goal came at 9:40 on the power play, and this time Shea Weber’s point shot beat Szuper cleanly. It was the third man advantage for Canada in the first half of the first period, all infractions the result of Canada’s superior speed and strength.
Spezza’s great pass between his legs from behind the net to Derek Roy in the slot made it 3-0 and a nice two-on-one made it 4-0 when White made a perfect pass to James Neal for the one-timer. In all, nine different players recorded a point in the period.
The second period started off testily after Scottie Upshall received a five-minute major and match penalty for a hit to the head of Andras Benk, but the penalty wasn’t a minute old before the Hungarians were called for hooking and then holding. St. Louis and Weber scored soon after, bringing about a goaltending change in the name of mercy. The besieged Szuper went to the bench and Zoltan Hetenyi came on.
"What can I say?" Szuper commented. "We tried our best. In games like these, you learn a lot. As a goaltender, you hate to give up a goal, but for the team, there is a lot to be learned."
The match penalty to Upshall immediately disqualifies him from the next game for Canada.
Mike Fisher and St. Louis completed the scoring in the third.
"We had all lines working tonight, and we moved the puck well. It was important for us to maintain pressure from the beginning of the game and all the way through," player of the game St. Louis said.
Canada closes out its round robin Tuesday night against Slovakia while Hungary fights to stay out of the Relegation Round earlier that day with a decisive game against Belarus.
Russia dances with France
BERNE – Sunday night was not the goalies’ dream night, that’s for sure. Russian offensive weapons stole the spotlight as the reigning world champions pounded France 7-2.
It probably wasn’t the greatest of nights to be a goalie at either end of the rink. For France’s Eddy Ferhi, it was an uphill battle from the get-go, and his colleague, Alexander Eremenko, faced 22 shots in the game, and just nine in the first 30 minutes.
It took Russia just 1:23 to take the 1-0 lead. Alexander Radulov got the puck in the neutral zone and carried it over the offensive blueline. He got close to the French defenceman who had lost his stick a few second earlier, used him as a screen, then sidestepped him and sent a wrist shot behind Ferhi, beating him on the stick side.
And then Russia went boom, boom, boom.
At 7:06, Konstantin Gorovikov fed Danis Zaripov with a nice pass inside the French penalty killing box. Zaripov onetimed it next to the left post.
Just 14 seconds later, Sergei Zinoviev set up office behind the French net. His saucer found Radulov, who sent the puck upstairs while on his knees.
Fast forward 41 seconds: Ferhi thought he had the puck between his legs, covered when Alexander Perezhogin followed his own rush and poked the puck into the net with his stick.
"We had a pretty tough start, it was going too fast for us. Still, we tried to enjoy the game, because we hadn’t played against Russia since 2000," defenceman Baptiste Amar said.
Kevin Hecquefeuille put the French on the scoreboard at 10:25, but with five minutes remaining in the period, Alexei Tereschenko extended Russia’s lead to four goals again.
"France has a pretty good team, but they're still not quite at the top level. For us, the game was good preparation for the next game. France is going to be a good team in a few years," Denis Grebeshkov said.
"I guess this is a part of every tournament, but at the same time, you have to keep in mind that there are tougher games ahead of us," he added.
Tereschenko also was the lone Russian scorer in the second period which ended in a 1-1 tie after Luc Tardif’s slapshot got deflected through Eremenko’s five-hole when the puck hit a Russian defenceman on its way to the back of the net.
Third period was a chain of nice individual showings of skill by the Russians.
With 10:40 remaining, Ilya Kovalchuk carried the puck into the French zone, but the French defence managed to stickpoke it from him. It landed on Perezhogin's stick, he sent the puck back to Kovalchuk who onetimed it past Ferhi.
On Tuesday, France meets Germany, and the winner of the game will go on to play in the Qualification Round, the loser has to play a relegation round for a spot in the top division.
"It’s going to be a very different game against Germany. We need to play as a team, and work together, try to hang on there, and play a defensively good game," Amar said.
Russia takes on Switzerland in its next game.
"Switzerland plays hard, they have skilled players and a good goalie, so I think it’ll be a fun game to watch," Grebeshkov said.
BERNE – In Sunday's key battle of neighbouring rivals, Swiss captain Mark Streit scored on the power play at 1:18 of overtime to give the host nation a 3-2 victory over Germany.
Taking a pass from Martin Pluss, Streit teed up a howitzer through traffic that beat German goalie Dimitri Patzold high on the glove side and sent the red sea of Swiss fans into a frenzy. The goal came 37 seconds into the man advantage, with German defenceman Michael Bakos off for holding Severin Blindenbacher in the German zone.
"I don’t think the goalie saw it," said Switzerland's Ryan Gardner, who screened in front on the play. "That’s my job, and that’s what the coach says: 'Get in front of the net.' The French goalie saw a little too much [in the first game], but it went better today."
In many ways, this was the most anticipated game of the tournament for the two Group B nations. The result enhances Switzerland's chances of securing a quarter-final berth. The Swiss have made the Qualifying Round regardless of how they fare Tuesday versus Russia, while Germany needs a win over France that day to avoid the Relegation Round.
As expected, this was a low-scoring, tight affair, and the mesh that rippled most often was the protective netting hung at either end of the rink. Roman Wick and Mathias Seger scored in regulation time for Switzerland, while Christoph Ullmann and Christoph Schubert replied for Germany.
"It was a very exciting, emotional, and hard-fought game," said German head coach Uwe Krupp. "My team played even with the Swiss team in the first two periods. We had our chances but didn’t capitalize. At the end, the score reflects how the game was played."
The result extended the host country's World Championship winning streak against Germany to three games. The Germans haven't beaten Switzerland in IIHF World Championship play since a 3-0 win on April 28, 2002 in Sweden.
"For me, it was the best game between Switzerland and Germany in the 12 years that I have experienced them," said Swiss head coach Ralph Krueger. "It was a great hockey game, and there was great aggression in a positive sense. Everybody played hard. I don’t think there was anybody on either team that
didn't give their best."
Germany drew first blood on the power play at 6:26 when Ullmann collected a loose puck at the side of the net and, with Swiss goalie Martin Gerber already committed at the top of the crease, jammed it into the open cage.
At 8:36, the flag-waving Swiss fans were reenergized when Romano Lemm grabbed the puck behind the German net and centered it to Wick, who beat Patzold cleanly. Wick nearly repeated his feat on an identical set-up from Julien Sprunger during a subsequent Swiss man advantage.
With the score tied 1-1, the teams settled into more of a defensive groove in the second half of the period. Gerber had to be sharp to stymie the Germans on close-range chances during a penalty to Thomas Ziegler.
In the second period, the Swiss came out storming with physical and offensive zone pressure. In the opening minute, Switzerland's Thierry Paterlini shook up Michael Hackert with a solid hit inside the German blueline. Shortly afterwards, Goran Bezina drew the ire of the German bench with a crunching check that was nearly from behind. Chants of “Hopp Schwitz!” shook PostFinance Arena.
At 3:35, with a delayed penalty coming up to Germany, Seger stepped into a slapshot from the center point that blew past Patzold for a 2-1 Swiss lead.
The Germans buzzed Gerber's net on a mid-second period power play, but couldn't get the puck past the NHL-seasoned veteran. But at 13:02, Germany's Schubert got loose on a shorthanded breakaway and scored on his own rebound to make it 2-2.
As the middle frame wound down, it was the turn of the German fans to exult with chants of “Ole, ole, Super Deutschland!”
Switzerland got a big opportunity early in the third period, enjoying a two-man advantage with Schubert and Moritz Muller in the sin bin. Yet the Germans worked hard to block PP quarterback Streit's drives, and the Swiss only got a couple of decent chances from inside the left faceoff circle.
Only in overtime would Streit deliver the relief the vocal Swiss crowd craved. Switzerland outshot Germany 38-22, including the only two shots in the extra session.
"The team was tested mentally when Germany went up by 1-0, and then when we gave up a painful shorthanded goal in the third period," said Krueger. "But in the end, we deserved the win, the way the third period and the overtime went."
On a curious note, Germany's Hackert suffered damage to his #33 jersey during the game and replaced it with a #55 jersey with no name on the back. Bakos, who got cut over the right eye from a hit in Germany's 5-0 loss to Russia, returned to the lineup wearing a face shield
Mezin shuts down Slovakia
ZURICH-KLOTEN- In a goaltending duel and exciting finish, Belarus defeated Slovakia 2-1 in a shootout to win their first game of the tournament. Oleg Antonenko’s shootout goal sealed the victory.
Belarus netminder Andrei Mezin, making his first start of the tournament, and Slovakia’s Rastislav Stana, kept their respective teams in the game with big stops throughout the contest.
Andrei Stas’ second period goal held for most of the game until Marcel Hossa tied it with less than three minutes remaining in the game to bring Slovakia back.
Belarus would get its share of chances throughout, certainly better that they were able to get on Friday against Canada. Indeed, it was a stronger effort as Belarus stayed fairly disciplined and did not give up chances easily.
Belarus took only three minor penalties in the game.
At the same time, Mezin, who made 26 saves, was on his game. In many ways today was reminiscent of his performance at the 2006 World Championships in Riga, Latvia.
Mezin was able to backstop Belarus to a 2-1 win over Slovakia in the Preliminary Round of that tournament.
For the better part of the game boisterous Slovak supporters could get their side going. But once Hossa scored, the arena erupted and the team had new life.
The action was fairly well paced with both teams cautiously circling each other like two boxers in the middle of a ring. Without a clear finisher in their lineup, Slovakia wasn’t able to take advantage despite having the better scoring opportunities.
“We did not have the start we wanted,” said Stana. “We wanted to put more pressure and get more shots but it is very difficult because they back up and have five players at center ice.”
Andrei Stas would score his first goal of the tournament- and the first for Belarus here in Kloten- at even strength. Stas, a 20 year old Minsk native, send a shot stick side that Stana was unable to stop.
From there, Belarus further tightened up their defensive play while the Slovakians would press even more to equalize the game.
“All of our players play hard every shift,” said Grabovski. “We play a simple, easy game but we have fast forwards who are strong on the puck.”
In the third period, Slovak got some scoring chances but Belarus’ Mikhail Grabovski had the best when he moved in on goal but could not raise the puck over Stana’s pad.
As well, Mezin make a great right pad save on Petr Smrek who left his point position and moved in on goal.
With time winding down and desperation kicking in, Slovakia began to further press. Hossa was tenacious deep in the Belarus zone and his hard work finally paid off and he solved Mezin to knot the score at one.
Belarus drew a late penalty but could not convert as the game was sent to a shootout.
Belarus won the right to shoot first, and it unfolded as follows (according to the IIHF game-winning shots procedure, in which three different shooters from each team take alternate shots until a decisive goal is scored--and if the game is still tied after three shots by each team, the GWS continues with a tie-break shootout by one player of each team, with the shooting order reversed):


Round 1: BLR, Antonenko - goal, wrist shot. SVK, Ruzicka - goal, wrist shot
Round 2: BLR, Grabovski - no goal. SVK, Nagy – Mezin pad save


Round 3: BLR, Kaliuzhny – no goal. SVK, Bartecko – miss, backhand shot over net.
Round 4: SVK, Ruzicka – Mezin, pad save. BLR, Antonenko – goal, wrist shot
Oleg Antonenko ends up the hero for Belarus and gets Glen Hanlon his first World Championship win since returning behind the bench.
Canadian Crunch – 9-0
ZURICH-KLOTEN – Playing for the first time in 71 years, Canada overwhelmed Hungary by a 9-0 score. A dozen different players earned at least a point in the game. Martin St. Louis had a hat trick plus an assist to lead the attack. Chris Mason, playing in his first game after joining the team once his NHL’s St. Louis Blues were eliminated, earned the shutout by stopping 16 shots. Canada fired 51 shots the other way.
"I was pretty nervous going in," Mason admitted. "You know it's going to be the kind of game where you're not going to get a lot of shots, so I worked on staying focused, and I think I did that."
The win puts Canada in first place of Group A with six points, and the loss leaves Hungary pointless after two games.
In truth, the game resembled something from the 1930s when Canada would play virtually the entire game in its opponent’s end. The rabid Hungarian fans were left to cheer when one of their own players simply checked the puck off a Canadian stick, and a veritable roar erupted when they recorded a shot on goal.
Canada was so vastly superior that the game featured many penalties against the Hungarians as they were beaten to every loose puck, outmuscled, and outskilled every minute of the game.
The first goal came at 5:18 after Canada played virtually the entire game to this point in the Hungary end, an Ian White point shot deftly deflected in front by St. Louis past goalie Levente Szuper.
"We wanted to come out strong and come out hungry, and we knew they'd be ready to play," said Mike Fisher. "We did a good job in all areas using our speed and size, and we didn't let up."
Indeed, they didn't. The second goal came at 9:40 on the power play, and this time Shea Weber’s point shot beat Szuper cleanly. It was the third man advantage for Canada in the first half of the first period, all infractions the result of Canada’s superior speed and strength.
Spezza’s great pass between his legs from behind the net to Derek Roy in the slot made it 3-0 and a nice two-on-one made it 4-0 when White made a perfect pass to James Neal for the one-timer. In all, nine different players recorded a point in the period.
The second period started off testily after Scottie Upshall received a five-minute major and match penalty for a hit to the head of Andras Benk, but the penalty wasn’t a minute old before the Hungarians were called for hooking and then holding. St. Louis and Weber scored soon after, bringing about a goaltending change in the name of mercy. The besieged Szuper went to the bench and Zoltan Hetenyi came on.
"What can I say?" Szuper commented. "We tried our best. In games like these, you learn a lot. As a goaltender, you hate to give up a goal, but for the team, there is a lot to be learned."
The match penalty to Upshall immediately disqualifies him from the next game for Canada.
Mike Fisher and St. Louis completed the scoring in the third.
"We had all lines working tonight, and we moved the puck well. It was important for us to maintain pressure from the beginning of the game and all the way through," player of the game St. Louis said.
Canada closes out its round robin Tuesday night against Slovakia while Hungary fights to stay out of the Relegation Round earlier that day with a decisive game against Belarus.
Russia dances with France
BERNE – Sunday night was not the goalies’ dream night, that’s for sure. Russian offensive weapons stole the spotlight as the reigning world champions pounded France 7-2.
It probably wasn’t the greatest of nights to be a goalie at either end of the rink. For France’s Eddy Ferhi, it was an uphill battle from the get-go, and his colleague, Alexander Eremenko, faced 22 shots in the game, and just nine in the first 30 minutes.
It took Russia just 1:23 to take the 1-0 lead. Alexander Radulov got the puck in the neutral zone and carried it over the offensive blueline. He got close to the French defenceman who had lost his stick a few second earlier, used him as a screen, then sidestepped him and sent a wrist shot behind Ferhi, beating him on the stick side.
And then Russia went boom, boom, boom.
At 7:06, Konstantin Gorovikov fed Danis Zaripov with a nice pass inside the French penalty killing box. Zaripov onetimed it next to the left post.
Just 14 seconds later, Sergei Zinoviev set up office behind the French net. His saucer found Radulov, who sent the puck upstairs while on his knees.
Fast forward 41 seconds: Ferhi thought he had the puck between his legs, covered when Alexander Perezhogin followed his own rush and poked the puck into the net with his stick.
"We had a pretty tough start, it was going too fast for us. Still, we tried to enjoy the game, because we hadn’t played against Russia since 2000," defenceman Baptiste Amar said.
Kevin Hecquefeuille put the French on the scoreboard at 10:25, but with five minutes remaining in the period, Alexei Tereschenko extended Russia’s lead to four goals again.
"France has a pretty good team, but they're still not quite at the top level. For us, the game was good preparation for the next game. France is going to be a good team in a few years," Denis Grebeshkov said.
"I guess this is a part of every tournament, but at the same time, you have to keep in mind that there are tougher games ahead of us," he added.
Tereschenko also was the lone Russian scorer in the second period which ended in a 1-1 tie after Luc Tardif’s slapshot got deflected through Eremenko’s five-hole when the puck hit a Russian defenceman on its way to the back of the net.
Third period was a chain of nice individual showings of skill by the Russians.
With 10:40 remaining, Ilya Kovalchuk carried the puck into the French zone, but the French defence managed to stickpoke it from him. It landed on Perezhogin's stick, he sent the puck back to Kovalchuk who onetimed it past Ferhi.
On Tuesday, France meets Germany, and the winner of the game will go on to play in the Qualification Round, the loser has to play a relegation round for a spot in the top division.
"It’s going to be a very different game against Germany. We need to play as a team, and work together, try to hang on there, and play a defensively good game," Amar said.
Russia takes on Switzerland in its next game.
"Switzerland plays hard, they have skilled players and a good goalie, so I think it’ll be a fun game to watch," Grebeshkov said.
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No way Norway: 2-5
ZURICH-KLOTEN – The Czech Republic stormed out of the gate with three goals in the first period and coasted to a lacklustre 5-2 win over Norway. Five different scorers counted the goals for the winners.
The win push the Czechs in first place of Group D with six points while Norway has no wins and two regulation losses.
The Czechs got things started at 5:20 when Roman Polak’s point shot went wide. It bounced directly back in the slot and Jan Marek hammered it into the empty side before Norwegian goalie Pål Grotnes knew what had happened.
Four minutes later they connected on a power play, Petr Cajanek converting a nice pass from behind the net by Ales Hemsky. Cajanek was well covered but he managed to get a quick shot off that beat Grotnes between the legs.
The prettiest goal was the third, at 12:19. The puck bounced high at centre ice and Roman Cervenka batted it perfectly to Josef Vasicek, streaking down the right wing. The left-hand shot rifled the puck over the far shoulder of Grotnes into the top corner – top shelf, where mama keeps the cookies, as they say.
This barrage spelled the end for Grotnes as backup André Lysenstøen came out to start the second period. The move paid dividends quickly as Tommy Jakobsen’s point shot eluded Martin Prusek at 1:49 to cut the lead to two goals.
Much of the rest of the period was without event for the Czechs, but they managed to regain their three-goal advantage on another play in tight. This time Rastislav Olesz, off to the side of the net, made a quick, short pass to Miroslav Blatak and his one-timer beat Lysenstøen.
The persistent Norwegians made it 4-2 with just eight seconds left in the period on a five-on-three power play. Mats Zuccarello Aasen moved in to the top of the faceoff circle and wired a wrist shot over Prusek’s shoulder.
The Czechs had most of the play in the third and were rewarded at 11:14 when a harmless-looking backhand from Jakub Klepis snuck under the arm of Lysenstøen to make it 5-2.
The game had an odd start to it. Just 40 seconds after the opening faceoff, a sheet of glass broke, forcing a delay of almost 20 minutes.
The Czechs finish the round robin on Wednesday against Finland in what should be a battle for first place while Norway plays Denmark in a critical game which will likely determine which team moves on to the Qualification Round and which must fight for survival in the Relegation Round.
USA thumps Austria
BERNE – After a slow start, the USA scored four third-period goals to beat Austria 6-1 in front of 3,779 fans at PostFinance Arena on Monday. The Austrians, now winless in two games, must defeat Latvia on Wednesday to avoid the Relegation Round.
Captain Dustin Brown led the way with a goal and two assists, and Patrick O'Sullivan and Jason Blake added a goal and an assist apiece. Drew Stafford, Lee Stempniak and Matt Niskanen also scored for the USA, which faces off against Sweden in the Group C finale on Wednesday.
Markus Peintner had the lone goal for Austria, which trailed the USA 2-1 heading into the final period. The Americans outshot Austria 38-26.
The duo of Buffalo Sabres star Thomas Vanek and Red Bull Salzburg forward Thomas Koch generated some quality scoring chances for Austria. But Vanek, a two-time NHL 40-goal man, was held pointless for the second straight game.
The teams played surprisingly evenly in the first 10 minutes, and Kyle Okposo missed a wide-open net during the USA's first power play. With 4:49 left in the first period, Brown opened the scoring for the Americans, deking his way off the wall to the slot and knifing a backhand past Austrian goalie Jürgen Penker.
The USA went up 2-0 at 11:04 of the second when Stafford went to the net and tucked in a loose puck to finish off a rush with Nick Foligno, seconds after the Austrians had tested USA netminder Robert Esche with a rush of their own.
Austria cut the deficit to 2-1 at 14:26 thanks to a gaffe by Esche. The goalie came out of his net to clear the puck off the sideboards, but gave it away to Peinter, who shot it in from inside the blueline. The cheers from the drum-beating Austrian fans were as long and bold as Peinter's beard.
That goal injected new life into what had been a tepid period. The Austrians charged into the American end with renewed enthusiasm, and their opponents came right back at them, Colin Wilson hammering a slapper off the goal post. Austria outshot the Americans 12-7 in the middle frame.
But the hopes of the red-and-white squad would be short-lived. Just 25 seconds into the third period, the USA restored its two-goal lead, as O'Sullivan went to the net and tipped in Brown's shot from the high slot.
The Austrians then surrendered three straight power play goals. With 12:04 left, Blake batted in a puck at the side of the net during an two-man USA advantage to make it 4-1. Stempniak and Niskanen completed the power play carnage, both employing one-timers from the left faceoff circle.
For the USA, the Player of the Game was Dustin Brown. Andreas Kristler was chosen for Austria.
The last IIHF World Championship meeting between these two nations was a 6-2 American win in Moscow 2007, where Austria wound up getting relegated.
ZURICH-KLOTEN – The Czech Republic stormed out of the gate with three goals in the first period and coasted to a lacklustre 5-2 win over Norway. Five different scorers counted the goals for the winners.
The win push the Czechs in first place of Group D with six points while Norway has no wins and two regulation losses.
The Czechs got things started at 5:20 when Roman Polak’s point shot went wide. It bounced directly back in the slot and Jan Marek hammered it into the empty side before Norwegian goalie Pål Grotnes knew what had happened.
Four minutes later they connected on a power play, Petr Cajanek converting a nice pass from behind the net by Ales Hemsky. Cajanek was well covered but he managed to get a quick shot off that beat Grotnes between the legs.
The prettiest goal was the third, at 12:19. The puck bounced high at centre ice and Roman Cervenka batted it perfectly to Josef Vasicek, streaking down the right wing. The left-hand shot rifled the puck over the far shoulder of Grotnes into the top corner – top shelf, where mama keeps the cookies, as they say.
This barrage spelled the end for Grotnes as backup André Lysenstøen came out to start the second period. The move paid dividends quickly as Tommy Jakobsen’s point shot eluded Martin Prusek at 1:49 to cut the lead to two goals.
Much of the rest of the period was without event for the Czechs, but they managed to regain their three-goal advantage on another play in tight. This time Rastislav Olesz, off to the side of the net, made a quick, short pass to Miroslav Blatak and his one-timer beat Lysenstøen.
The persistent Norwegians made it 4-2 with just eight seconds left in the period on a five-on-three power play. Mats Zuccarello Aasen moved in to the top of the faceoff circle and wired a wrist shot over Prusek’s shoulder.
The Czechs had most of the play in the third and were rewarded at 11:14 when a harmless-looking backhand from Jakub Klepis snuck under the arm of Lysenstøen to make it 5-2.
The game had an odd start to it. Just 40 seconds after the opening faceoff, a sheet of glass broke, forcing a delay of almost 20 minutes.
The Czechs finish the round robin on Wednesday against Finland in what should be a battle for first place while Norway plays Denmark in a critical game which will likely determine which team moves on to the Qualification Round and which must fight for survival in the Relegation Round.
USA thumps Austria
BERNE – After a slow start, the USA scored four third-period goals to beat Austria 6-1 in front of 3,779 fans at PostFinance Arena on Monday. The Austrians, now winless in two games, must defeat Latvia on Wednesday to avoid the Relegation Round.
Captain Dustin Brown led the way with a goal and two assists, and Patrick O'Sullivan and Jason Blake added a goal and an assist apiece. Drew Stafford, Lee Stempniak and Matt Niskanen also scored for the USA, which faces off against Sweden in the Group C finale on Wednesday.
Markus Peintner had the lone goal for Austria, which trailed the USA 2-1 heading into the final period. The Americans outshot Austria 38-26.
The duo of Buffalo Sabres star Thomas Vanek and Red Bull Salzburg forward Thomas Koch generated some quality scoring chances for Austria. But Vanek, a two-time NHL 40-goal man, was held pointless for the second straight game.
The teams played surprisingly evenly in the first 10 minutes, and Kyle Okposo missed a wide-open net during the USA's first power play. With 4:49 left in the first period, Brown opened the scoring for the Americans, deking his way off the wall to the slot and knifing a backhand past Austrian goalie Jürgen Penker.
The USA went up 2-0 at 11:04 of the second when Stafford went to the net and tucked in a loose puck to finish off a rush with Nick Foligno, seconds after the Austrians had tested USA netminder Robert Esche with a rush of their own.
Austria cut the deficit to 2-1 at 14:26 thanks to a gaffe by Esche. The goalie came out of his net to clear the puck off the sideboards, but gave it away to Peinter, who shot it in from inside the blueline. The cheers from the drum-beating Austrian fans were as long and bold as Peinter's beard.
That goal injected new life into what had been a tepid period. The Austrians charged into the American end with renewed enthusiasm, and their opponents came right back at them, Colin Wilson hammering a slapper off the goal post. Austria outshot the Americans 12-7 in the middle frame.
But the hopes of the red-and-white squad would be short-lived. Just 25 seconds into the third period, the USA restored its two-goal lead, as O'Sullivan went to the net and tipped in Brown's shot from the high slot.
The Austrians then surrendered three straight power play goals. With 12:04 left, Blake batted in a puck at the side of the net during an two-man USA advantage to make it 4-1. Stempniak and Niskanen completed the power play carnage, both employing one-timers from the left faceoff circle.
For the USA, the Player of the Game was Dustin Brown. Andreas Kristler was chosen for Austria.
The last IIHF World Championship meeting between these two nations was a 6-2 American win in Moscow 2007, where Austria wound up getting relegated.
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Finland fashions tidy 5-1 win
ZURICH-KLOTEN – Finland won its second straight game at the 2009 IIHF World Championships with a 5-1 win over Denmark.
Denmark would get out to an early lead but the Finnish attack would respond to tie it and move ahead. Tuomas Pihlman’s power play goal in the second period would give Finland a lead that it would not relinquish.
Denmark started the game in good form. They played Finland close, generating good chances on Karri Ramo, who made his World Championship debut in goal. It was that solid effort that saw them grab a 1-0 lead.
Denmark would get on the board with a Julian Jakobsen goal off a nifty pass from Mads Christensen at 10:03.
As in Finland’s opening game of the tournament, Antti Mietinnen scored their first goal, this time his marker would tie the score at one. He was alone on Sebastien Dahm’s right side to pick up a rebound and fire it home.
"We had a bad start to the game," said Anssi Salmela. "But we did not panic and eventually got going."
Miettinen scored his second of the game at 14:42 of the second period. Miettinen shot the puck and Dahm made the initial save. But the rebound would not be stopped as Dahm was down and Miettinen shot high.
For Miettinen, it was his third goal of the tournament, marking a personal best. At the 2002 and again at the 2006 World Championships, Miettinen scored two goals each time in tournament play. He’s coming off a season where he enjoyed personal highs of 15 goals and 34 points with the Minnesota Wild.
With 8:09 remaining in the game, Niko Kapanen fired a shot through the five-hole on Dahm to make it 4-1. Miettinen and Petteri Nummelin got the assists.
Kapanen would strike again in the waning seconds of the game with his second of the period making it 5-1.
Finland next faces the Czech Republic on Wednesday.
"We are satisfied with our first two games but we need to get better against the Czechs," said Tommi Santala. "That is going to be a tougher game."
For Denmark, Wednesday’s game against Norway is pivotal. A win moves Denmark into the Qualifying Round whereas a loss means Relegation Round play and a fight to stay in the top division of World Championship play.
The game features a rematch of emerging hockey rivals. It was Norway that beat Denmark in the Olympic Qualifier to rob them of a chance at being in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics
First favourite to fall
BERNE – In the eleven previous matchups between the two nations, Latvia's best result was a tie. Not anymore.
"Latvia played a really good hockey game. We couldn’t reach the level we wanted to. We lost a game but at the same time we just have to focus on our next game against the USA," Swedish coach Bengt-Åke Gustafsson said.
Naturally, for Latvia, the big was an important one.
"I’m just happy, I really wanted to win this game," Latvian coach Olegs Znaroks said.
"Every victory means happiness,” he added.
Discipline was the key word in the Group C game between Sweden and Latvia. Both teams entered the game with a plan, stuck to it.
"We knew we’d have to defend, and work as a team. Sweden is a great team so we wanted to keep the pressure on and focus on chances on our powerplay," defenceman Krisjanis Redlihs said.
Sweden got off to a good start, taking control of the game early on. Latvia, on the other hand, focused on playing solid defence, and playing the puck quickly out of its own zone, then following it up with an attack if possible. Aleksandrs Nizivijs's two-minute penalty for hooking gave Sweden the momentum even if Tre Kronor couldn’t capitalize on the powerplay.
At 15:26, Linus Omark followed his linemate Johan Harju’s drive to the net. Harju took a shot which Latvian goaltender Edgars Masalskis blocked but the rebound bounced straight to Omark, who had an easy job tipping the puck into an empty net.
The second period went according to the same script until Krisjanis Redlihs sent a blistering slapshot from the blueline during Omark’s high sticking penalty and beat Sweden’s goaltender Stefan Liv high on the glove side, it turned into a whole other story.
Latvia created more scoring chances, and even if Sweden outshot Latvia 24-16 in the first two periods, Liv had to make a series of excellent saves during the second half of the period.
With 45 seconds remaining in the second period, Krisjanis’s little brother Mikelis Redlihs shook off a Swedish defenceman behind the Swedish net and sent a backhand pass across the crease. Lauris Darzins out Swedish fans into a state of shock when he tipped the puck in.
In a mirror image of the end of the second period, Sweden tied the games 44 seconds into the third on powerplay. Magnus Johansson took a pass from Loui Eriksson, and onetimed a slapshot behind Masalskis.
At 51:04, there was a long stoppage of play after Sweden's Tobias Enström injured his face after he got slammed into the boards in the corner by Martins Karsums. He left the game, leaving Sweden with just four defencemen since Kenny Jonsson quit the game after the first period, due to a hip injury.
When the puck was dropped again, Sweden looked determined to get the winning goal, forcing Latvia to ice the puck several times.
The Latvian defence held tight, and the game was tied after 60 minutes of play.
After a goalless overtime, the game was decided on a penalty shootout.
Latvian coach Olegs Znaroks surprised even his own team by switching goalies, sending 40-year-old Sergejs Naumovs in for the shootout.
"I was surprised when the coach changed the goalies, but it worked out," Krisjanis Redlihs said, grinning.
It worked. Naumovs made two key saves. First, he stopped Patrik Berglund, then Johansson, giving Nizivijs, Latvia's fourth shooter, a chance to give Latvia the edge.
He fooled Liv in the Swedish goal and sealed Latvia's first ever win over Sweden. In the eleven previous matches (nine in World Championships, one at the Olympics, and one exhibition game) Sweden's record was 10W-1T.
ZURICH-KLOTEN – Finland won its second straight game at the 2009 IIHF World Championships with a 5-1 win over Denmark.
Denmark would get out to an early lead but the Finnish attack would respond to tie it and move ahead. Tuomas Pihlman’s power play goal in the second period would give Finland a lead that it would not relinquish.
Denmark started the game in good form. They played Finland close, generating good chances on Karri Ramo, who made his World Championship debut in goal. It was that solid effort that saw them grab a 1-0 lead.
Denmark would get on the board with a Julian Jakobsen goal off a nifty pass from Mads Christensen at 10:03.
As in Finland’s opening game of the tournament, Antti Mietinnen scored their first goal, this time his marker would tie the score at one. He was alone on Sebastien Dahm’s right side to pick up a rebound and fire it home.
"We had a bad start to the game," said Anssi Salmela. "But we did not panic and eventually got going."
Miettinen scored his second of the game at 14:42 of the second period. Miettinen shot the puck and Dahm made the initial save. But the rebound would not be stopped as Dahm was down and Miettinen shot high.
For Miettinen, it was his third goal of the tournament, marking a personal best. At the 2002 and again at the 2006 World Championships, Miettinen scored two goals each time in tournament play. He’s coming off a season where he enjoyed personal highs of 15 goals and 34 points with the Minnesota Wild.
With 8:09 remaining in the game, Niko Kapanen fired a shot through the five-hole on Dahm to make it 4-1. Miettinen and Petteri Nummelin got the assists.
Kapanen would strike again in the waning seconds of the game with his second of the period making it 5-1.
Finland next faces the Czech Republic on Wednesday.
"We are satisfied with our first two games but we need to get better against the Czechs," said Tommi Santala. "That is going to be a tougher game."
For Denmark, Wednesday’s game against Norway is pivotal. A win moves Denmark into the Qualifying Round whereas a loss means Relegation Round play and a fight to stay in the top division of World Championship play.
The game features a rematch of emerging hockey rivals. It was Norway that beat Denmark in the Olympic Qualifier to rob them of a chance at being in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics
First favourite to fall
BERNE – In the eleven previous matchups between the two nations, Latvia's best result was a tie. Not anymore.
"Latvia played a really good hockey game. We couldn’t reach the level we wanted to. We lost a game but at the same time we just have to focus on our next game against the USA," Swedish coach Bengt-Åke Gustafsson said.
Naturally, for Latvia, the big was an important one.
"I’m just happy, I really wanted to win this game," Latvian coach Olegs Znaroks said.
"Every victory means happiness,” he added.
Discipline was the key word in the Group C game between Sweden and Latvia. Both teams entered the game with a plan, stuck to it.
"We knew we’d have to defend, and work as a team. Sweden is a great team so we wanted to keep the pressure on and focus on chances on our powerplay," defenceman Krisjanis Redlihs said.
Sweden got off to a good start, taking control of the game early on. Latvia, on the other hand, focused on playing solid defence, and playing the puck quickly out of its own zone, then following it up with an attack if possible. Aleksandrs Nizivijs's two-minute penalty for hooking gave Sweden the momentum even if Tre Kronor couldn’t capitalize on the powerplay.
At 15:26, Linus Omark followed his linemate Johan Harju’s drive to the net. Harju took a shot which Latvian goaltender Edgars Masalskis blocked but the rebound bounced straight to Omark, who had an easy job tipping the puck into an empty net.
The second period went according to the same script until Krisjanis Redlihs sent a blistering slapshot from the blueline during Omark’s high sticking penalty and beat Sweden’s goaltender Stefan Liv high on the glove side, it turned into a whole other story.
Latvia created more scoring chances, and even if Sweden outshot Latvia 24-16 in the first two periods, Liv had to make a series of excellent saves during the second half of the period.
With 45 seconds remaining in the second period, Krisjanis’s little brother Mikelis Redlihs shook off a Swedish defenceman behind the Swedish net and sent a backhand pass across the crease. Lauris Darzins out Swedish fans into a state of shock when he tipped the puck in.
In a mirror image of the end of the second period, Sweden tied the games 44 seconds into the third on powerplay. Magnus Johansson took a pass from Loui Eriksson, and onetimed a slapshot behind Masalskis.
At 51:04, there was a long stoppage of play after Sweden's Tobias Enström injured his face after he got slammed into the boards in the corner by Martins Karsums. He left the game, leaving Sweden with just four defencemen since Kenny Jonsson quit the game after the first period, due to a hip injury.
When the puck was dropped again, Sweden looked determined to get the winning goal, forcing Latvia to ice the puck several times.
The Latvian defence held tight, and the game was tied after 60 minutes of play.
After a goalless overtime, the game was decided on a penalty shootout.
Latvian coach Olegs Znaroks surprised even his own team by switching goalies, sending 40-year-old Sergejs Naumovs in for the shootout.
"I was surprised when the coach changed the goalies, but it worked out," Krisjanis Redlihs said, grinning.
It worked. Naumovs made two key saves. First, he stopped Patrik Berglund, then Johansson, giving Nizivijs, Latvia's fourth shooter, a chance to give Latvia the edge.
He fooled Liv in the Swedish goal and sealed Latvia's first ever win over Sweden. In the eleven previous matches (nine in World Championships, one at the Olympics, and one exhibition game) Sweden's record was 10W-1T.
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Canada powers to 7-3 win
ZURICH-KLOTEN Canada scored three of its five power-play goals in a chippy first period en route to a one-sided 7-3 win over Slovakia before 6,300 fans at a sold-out Kloten Arena. Defenceman Shea Weber had a goal and three assists while Martin St. Louis had four assists.
With the win Canada finishes atop Group A with a perfect 3-0-0 record and nine points. Slovakia finishes third with four points (a win, a loss, and an overtime loss), and both teams advance to the Qualification Round along with Belarus while Hungary must fight for survival in the Relegation Round.
"After two tough games we thought we should have won," Boris Valabik said, "it was tough to face such a good team. We played well in our exhibition games, but something happened between then and here [Kloten] because we can't seem to catch a break."
Derek Roy opened the scoring at 4:50 on the power play with a slap shot from the top of the circle that whizzed by goalie Jaroslav Halak. It was the result of a set series of passes clockwise and continuous motion counter-clockwise which created an opening in the centre of the ice, giving Roy plenty of time to walk in and take aim.
Canada connected on a five-on-three advantage at 6:54 on another nice passing play, this time St. Louis finding captain Shane Doan in the slot. His shot squeaked by Halak to give Canada an early 2-0 lead.
Canada got its third power-play goal of the period when Shea Webers shot was kicked out by Halak right onto Jason Spezzas stick. Spezza quickly snapped it in to put Canada in control.
"The power play was really working for us today," Spezza agreed. "I thought we really challenged them, and they're a tough team to play against. Hopefully, we 'll keep getting better as we move to the next round."
The Slovaks temporarily got back in the game at 6:05 of the second off a faceoff to Dwayne Rolosons left. Peter Olvecky won the draw cleanly and Tomas Surovy wristed a quick shot through the goalies pads to make it a 3-1 game.
Ian White restored the lead at 9:39 with another great shot. The play began with a nice end-to-end rush by Steve Stamkos, and although he was checked off the puck he doggedly pursued the defence and forced a turnover. Quick passes by Stamkos to St. Louis and on to White produced the goal.
Weber followed up with another blast over Halaks shoulder on another two-man advantage. That score ended Halaks night as coach Jan Filc sent in Jan Lasak. But still with a single man advantage, Canada continued to press and Steve Stamkos flipped a short side wrist shot over Lasaks glove to make it a 6-1 game.
The third period was all about taking care of business, but Spezza got his second of the night after a nice takeaway by Matt Lombardi at the Slovakian blueline.
Marcel Hossa and Dominik Granak closed out the scoring with late power-play goals for Slovakia. "You can't take penalties against these guys, or be down five-on-three," Hossa noted. "But when we played five-on-five, I thought the game was even and when we played our best."
"It's just a matter of getting used to playing with each other," Weber said of the team's chemistry and confidence. "We're all on different NHL teams, so it's just a matter of working together and getting better as we go along."
The Preliminary Round finishes Wednesday night after which the game schedule for the Qualification Round will be immediately announced.
France advances over Germany
BERNE "All for one, one for all" worked for the musketeers, and it worked for Dave Hendersons team in the 2009 World Championship. Disciplined and sacrificing play carried France to a 2-1 win over Germany.
"We were determined to win. We knew they're better than us but we played a great game defensively, and they weren't able to score. We knew it was going to be tough, but if we don't believe in ourselves, then nobody does," said French captain Laurent Meunier.
Both teams had lost their first two games in the tournament to Russia and Switzerland even if Germany managed to grab a point in the Switzerland game, losing it in overtime. That point had no bearing tonight, in a game of winner takes all, the all being a spot in the qualification round group.
Even though Germany will now play in the Relegation Round, the team cannot be relegated for 2010, due to a special provision in the IIHF regulations that says that a team hosting the World Championship cannot be relegated. Germany will be the host of the 2010 IIHF World Championship.
So, if Germany finishes third or fourth in the Relegation Round, the team that finished second will go down to Division I in 2010.
But it won't be France.
"For this team this was a huge win. I don't know if it will mean anything for hockey in France, but for this team, it was very important. We've been working hard for the last few years, we know each other, we have a good chemistry on the team," said Meunier.
For Germany, the game ended in a disappointment.
"The French team fought the whole game, and they played very well defensively. We had the right amount of chances, quality chances, that's just how close it is in international hockey," coach Uwe Krupp said.
Last year, Les Bleus ended up in the relegation group but managed to stay in the top division by beating Italy. This year, they were trying to do one better and do it without last years leading scorer, Sébastien Bordeleau.
However, another rock the team was built on last year was back, namely defenceman Baptiste Amar, who may just be the tournaments true MVP. In the first game against Switzerland, he played 29:48 minutes. Against Russia, just 16:29, but then he sat out most of the third period.
Against Germany, he played 31:43 minutes.
France got the start it wanted, when an odd bounce on a pass from one German defenceman to another on the German blueline opened the door for Anthoine Lussier to get on a breakway. He beat Dimitri Pätzold in the German goal, giving France the lead at 3:50.
In the next shift, Kevin Hecquefeuille got a double minor for high sticking. The Germans didnt waste any time on powerplay, and Jochen Hecht deflected Michel Bakoss shot past French goalkeeper Fabrice Lhenry.
At 16:48 Luc Tardif followed up on Laurent Meuniers shots, and sent the third rebound into the net.
In the second period, the Germans pushed France to their heels but Lhenry didnt make any mistakes.
Germany dominated the game completely for the last five minutes of the second period, but the French defence stood tall, helping Lhenry make the necessary saves, and even saving him the trouble by throwing themselves in front of several German shots.
The third period was more open, as the Germans push for a tying goal also gave France chances to go on attack. Germany's big opportunity came with eight minutes remaining when Benoit Quessandier got a two-minute penalty for delaying the game. Instead, France created the best scoring chances shorthanded.
With 1:19 remaining, Germany replaced its goalie with a sixth skater, creating a 6-on-4 powerplay. The French built a blue human wall between their net and the Germans shooting from the point.
"We knew it was going to be a close game, but .. we didn't score, simple as that. We had a lot of chances, but just couldn't get the puck in," Sven Felski said.
Russia tops Switzerland
BERNE Russia edged Switzerland for top spot in Group B with a hard-fought 4-2 win at PostFinance Arena on Sunday. Alexei Morozov notched the spectacular winning goal with 11:32 left.
It took a long time, but Russia's finely honed offensive instincts finally overcame the Swiss defence. A turnover at the Swiss blueline sprang Morozov on a 2-on-1 rush with Ilya Kovalchuk, and they worked the give-and-go to perfection. Morozov, captain of the KHL champion Ak Bars Kazan, gave goalie Martin Gerber no chance on the glove side.
"We saw two great teams and a really nice atmosphere," said Russian head coach Slava Bykov. "I wasnt surprised at all about the Swiss performance. We tried to take advantage of their mistakes, and we were successful."
It was the fourth straight year that Russia has led its Preliminary Round group. It boasts a perfect record with three wins in Berne.
"This was exactly the kind of game we needed to get ready for the next games," said Russian defenceman Oleg Tverdovsky. "Scores like 5-0 and 7-2 aren't good. You start to get away from the little things that need to be done right."
Kovalchuk finished with a goal and two assists, and Vitali Atyushov and Alexander Perezhogin also scored for Russia. Ryan Gardner and Martin Plüss replied for the host team, and Ivo Rüthemann added a pair of assists.
In the battle of former Anaheim backup goalies, Ilya Bryzgalov prevailed as Switzerland outshot Russia 39-24.
"We saw that we can play with one of the World Championship favourites," said Swiss head coach Ralph Krueger. "Thats the message for today. Getting almost 40 shots on their goal is a success. Its the best game we've ever had against Russia, even better than the victories in 1998 or 2000, where we couldnt keep up and won because of great goaltending."
Russia grabbed a 1-0 lead at 2:19 when Kovalchuk fed a perfect pass to Atyushov in the right faceoff circle, and he one-timed it past the helpless Gerber's glove. On other occasions, this might have sparked a rout like Russia's 6-0 thrashing of Switzerland in the 2008 quarterfinals.
Yet the Swiss kept coming, and the flag-waving home crowd didn't relent with their chants of Hopp Schwiiz! They also whistled with lusty derision when captain Mark Streit was shaken up in the Swiss end on an Alexander Frolov high stick.
It didn't take long for the Swiss to capitalize on the ensuing mid-period power play. Rüthemann went hard to the net with the puck and Gardner banged in the rebound to make it 1-1. It was the first goal Bryzgalov had allowed in the tournament, ending his shutout streak after 69:46 minutes.
Swiss chances abounded as they outshot Russia 13-6 on the period. When Ilya Nikulin fell over inside the Swiss blueline, it set up a 2-on-1 rush for the host team, but although Severin Blindenbacher sent a sweet feed across to Roman Josi, Bryzgalov made a great sprawling save.
The defending champs killed off a delay-of-game penalty after Bryzgalov's clearing attempt went over the glass, but they weren't so lucky the next time. With Switzerland on the power play, Plüss got walloped at the blueline with a trip from Atyushov. With a delayed minor coming up to the Russian defenceman, Plüss got up, took a great pass from Streit, and scored into Bryzgalov's gaping cage at 17:17.
The Russians picked up the pace in the middle frame. Sergei Zinoviev busted down right wing and fed a cross-ice pass to Kovalchuk, who delayed before zinging a wrister under the crossbar to tie the game at 9:08 of the second.
Russia dominated the rest of the period in terms of puck possession, but couldn't pull ahead. A disciplined and determined Swiss defensive effort kept the score even. With under two minutes in the period, Andres Ambühl had the best Swiss chance when he cut to the net off right wing and almost shoveled the puck past Bryzgalov's right pad.
After Morozov made it 3-2 Russia in the third, Oleg Saprykin nearly added to his team's lead, hitting the post at close range. The Swiss pressed furiously in the dying minutes, adrenalized by the full-throated cheers of their fans, but couldn't find the equalizer. With 15 seconds left, Perezhogin added an empty-netter after stripping Streit of the puck at the Russian blueline.
"Close is not good enough," said Gardner. "Not getting points doesn't help us, but we got some confidence out of the game. We know that we can play against any team here. We just gotta keep going like we did in the first and third periods tonight."
Morozov and Plüss were named Players of the Game for their respective teams.
The last time Switzerland beat Russia was 3-2 in St. Petersburg 2000. The first-ever Swiss win came on home ice at the 1998 tournament in Basle, by a 4-2 count.
Ugarov, Mezin are big in win
ZURICH-KLOTEN In a game that had ramifications for both sides, Belarus defeated a much-improved Hungary team 3-1. Alexei Ugarovs goal with 5:35 left in the third salvaged the win for Belarus.
For fifty-five minutes, the game could have gone either way. Hungary showed its ability to generate scoring chances and move quickly to the puck. As well, Levente Szuper rebounded from a difficult game against Canada to a solid performance.
Once again, Hungarian spectators were out in full force with drums, chants, and the usual enthusiasm that has been emblematic of Team Hungarys experience here in Kloten.
Teams traded chances throughout the first period. Hungary had several close quarter chances on Andre Mezin, who was making his second straight start.
Tic-tac-toe passing led to Belarus first goal. With Viktor Szelig in the penalty box for tripping, Belarus was able to work the puck down around the net where Alexei Kaliuzhny scored off a pass from Sundays hero, Oleg Antonenko.
"We had a little problem with our start again," said Szuper. "I don't know whether we get nervous or what but that is the third game in a row. We have to learn to calm down."
Towards the end of the first and for the rest of the game, Hungary took the action to Belarus. Imre Peterdi tied the score scored off a no look pass from Balazs Ladanyi at 5:14 into the second period. The goal was Peterdis second of the tournament. Marton Vas picked up the secondary assist.
Hungary came out in the third and dominated the first ten minutes of the period. They peppered Mezin with shots from close range. Ladanyi had a dead on scoring opportunity that Mezin saved and two minutes later Janos Vas fired a snapshot that Mezin knocked away.
"This was a hard game, a tough game," said Mikhail Grabovski. "They played smart in the defensive zone. They always had five men back."
Late in the period, Belarus got the break they were looking for.
Off a faceoff deep in the Belarus zone, Kaliuzhny got control of the puck and saucered a cross ice pass to Ugarov who was breaking through the neutral zone. Once he got control of the puck, Ugarov was in on a break and sent a backhand past Szuper into the net.
Grabovski added an empty netter for good measure when Hungary pulled Szuper with a minute remaining in the game.
"We've made it to the Qualification Round, which is what we wanted to do but we will have to improve our play," said Grabovski.
Belarus can finish second in Group A with a Canada win this evening. Hungary now moves to the Relegation Round.
Our main goal is to stay up and keep dreaming the dream," said Szuper. "We want to show our fans and the world we want to be here."
ZURICH-KLOTEN Canada scored three of its five power-play goals in a chippy first period en route to a one-sided 7-3 win over Slovakia before 6,300 fans at a sold-out Kloten Arena. Defenceman Shea Weber had a goal and three assists while Martin St. Louis had four assists.
With the win Canada finishes atop Group A with a perfect 3-0-0 record and nine points. Slovakia finishes third with four points (a win, a loss, and an overtime loss), and both teams advance to the Qualification Round along with Belarus while Hungary must fight for survival in the Relegation Round.
"After two tough games we thought we should have won," Boris Valabik said, "it was tough to face such a good team. We played well in our exhibition games, but something happened between then and here [Kloten] because we can't seem to catch a break."
Derek Roy opened the scoring at 4:50 on the power play with a slap shot from the top of the circle that whizzed by goalie Jaroslav Halak. It was the result of a set series of passes clockwise and continuous motion counter-clockwise which created an opening in the centre of the ice, giving Roy plenty of time to walk in and take aim.
Canada connected on a five-on-three advantage at 6:54 on another nice passing play, this time St. Louis finding captain Shane Doan in the slot. His shot squeaked by Halak to give Canada an early 2-0 lead.
Canada got its third power-play goal of the period when Shea Webers shot was kicked out by Halak right onto Jason Spezzas stick. Spezza quickly snapped it in to put Canada in control.
"The power play was really working for us today," Spezza agreed. "I thought we really challenged them, and they're a tough team to play against. Hopefully, we 'll keep getting better as we move to the next round."
The Slovaks temporarily got back in the game at 6:05 of the second off a faceoff to Dwayne Rolosons left. Peter Olvecky won the draw cleanly and Tomas Surovy wristed a quick shot through the goalies pads to make it a 3-1 game.
Ian White restored the lead at 9:39 with another great shot. The play began with a nice end-to-end rush by Steve Stamkos, and although he was checked off the puck he doggedly pursued the defence and forced a turnover. Quick passes by Stamkos to St. Louis and on to White produced the goal.
Weber followed up with another blast over Halaks shoulder on another two-man advantage. That score ended Halaks night as coach Jan Filc sent in Jan Lasak. But still with a single man advantage, Canada continued to press and Steve Stamkos flipped a short side wrist shot over Lasaks glove to make it a 6-1 game.
The third period was all about taking care of business, but Spezza got his second of the night after a nice takeaway by Matt Lombardi at the Slovakian blueline.
Marcel Hossa and Dominik Granak closed out the scoring with late power-play goals for Slovakia. "You can't take penalties against these guys, or be down five-on-three," Hossa noted. "But when we played five-on-five, I thought the game was even and when we played our best."
"It's just a matter of getting used to playing with each other," Weber said of the team's chemistry and confidence. "We're all on different NHL teams, so it's just a matter of working together and getting better as we go along."
The Preliminary Round finishes Wednesday night after which the game schedule for the Qualification Round will be immediately announced.
France advances over Germany
BERNE "All for one, one for all" worked for the musketeers, and it worked for Dave Hendersons team in the 2009 World Championship. Disciplined and sacrificing play carried France to a 2-1 win over Germany.
"We were determined to win. We knew they're better than us but we played a great game defensively, and they weren't able to score. We knew it was going to be tough, but if we don't believe in ourselves, then nobody does," said French captain Laurent Meunier.
Both teams had lost their first two games in the tournament to Russia and Switzerland even if Germany managed to grab a point in the Switzerland game, losing it in overtime. That point had no bearing tonight, in a game of winner takes all, the all being a spot in the qualification round group.
Even though Germany will now play in the Relegation Round, the team cannot be relegated for 2010, due to a special provision in the IIHF regulations that says that a team hosting the World Championship cannot be relegated. Germany will be the host of the 2010 IIHF World Championship.
So, if Germany finishes third or fourth in the Relegation Round, the team that finished second will go down to Division I in 2010.
But it won't be France.
"For this team this was a huge win. I don't know if it will mean anything for hockey in France, but for this team, it was very important. We've been working hard for the last few years, we know each other, we have a good chemistry on the team," said Meunier.
For Germany, the game ended in a disappointment.
"The French team fought the whole game, and they played very well defensively. We had the right amount of chances, quality chances, that's just how close it is in international hockey," coach Uwe Krupp said.
Last year, Les Bleus ended up in the relegation group but managed to stay in the top division by beating Italy. This year, they were trying to do one better and do it without last years leading scorer, Sébastien Bordeleau.
However, another rock the team was built on last year was back, namely defenceman Baptiste Amar, who may just be the tournaments true MVP. In the first game against Switzerland, he played 29:48 minutes. Against Russia, just 16:29, but then he sat out most of the third period.
Against Germany, he played 31:43 minutes.
France got the start it wanted, when an odd bounce on a pass from one German defenceman to another on the German blueline opened the door for Anthoine Lussier to get on a breakway. He beat Dimitri Pätzold in the German goal, giving France the lead at 3:50.
In the next shift, Kevin Hecquefeuille got a double minor for high sticking. The Germans didnt waste any time on powerplay, and Jochen Hecht deflected Michel Bakoss shot past French goalkeeper Fabrice Lhenry.
At 16:48 Luc Tardif followed up on Laurent Meuniers shots, and sent the third rebound into the net.
In the second period, the Germans pushed France to their heels but Lhenry didnt make any mistakes.
Germany dominated the game completely for the last five minutes of the second period, but the French defence stood tall, helping Lhenry make the necessary saves, and even saving him the trouble by throwing themselves in front of several German shots.
The third period was more open, as the Germans push for a tying goal also gave France chances to go on attack. Germany's big opportunity came with eight minutes remaining when Benoit Quessandier got a two-minute penalty for delaying the game. Instead, France created the best scoring chances shorthanded.
With 1:19 remaining, Germany replaced its goalie with a sixth skater, creating a 6-on-4 powerplay. The French built a blue human wall between their net and the Germans shooting from the point.
"We knew it was going to be a close game, but .. we didn't score, simple as that. We had a lot of chances, but just couldn't get the puck in," Sven Felski said.
Russia tops Switzerland
BERNE Russia edged Switzerland for top spot in Group B with a hard-fought 4-2 win at PostFinance Arena on Sunday. Alexei Morozov notched the spectacular winning goal with 11:32 left.
It took a long time, but Russia's finely honed offensive instincts finally overcame the Swiss defence. A turnover at the Swiss blueline sprang Morozov on a 2-on-1 rush with Ilya Kovalchuk, and they worked the give-and-go to perfection. Morozov, captain of the KHL champion Ak Bars Kazan, gave goalie Martin Gerber no chance on the glove side.
"We saw two great teams and a really nice atmosphere," said Russian head coach Slava Bykov. "I wasnt surprised at all about the Swiss performance. We tried to take advantage of their mistakes, and we were successful."
It was the fourth straight year that Russia has led its Preliminary Round group. It boasts a perfect record with three wins in Berne.
"This was exactly the kind of game we needed to get ready for the next games," said Russian defenceman Oleg Tverdovsky. "Scores like 5-0 and 7-2 aren't good. You start to get away from the little things that need to be done right."
Kovalchuk finished with a goal and two assists, and Vitali Atyushov and Alexander Perezhogin also scored for Russia. Ryan Gardner and Martin Plüss replied for the host team, and Ivo Rüthemann added a pair of assists.
In the battle of former Anaheim backup goalies, Ilya Bryzgalov prevailed as Switzerland outshot Russia 39-24.
"We saw that we can play with one of the World Championship favourites," said Swiss head coach Ralph Krueger. "Thats the message for today. Getting almost 40 shots on their goal is a success. Its the best game we've ever had against Russia, even better than the victories in 1998 or 2000, where we couldnt keep up and won because of great goaltending."
Russia grabbed a 1-0 lead at 2:19 when Kovalchuk fed a perfect pass to Atyushov in the right faceoff circle, and he one-timed it past the helpless Gerber's glove. On other occasions, this might have sparked a rout like Russia's 6-0 thrashing of Switzerland in the 2008 quarterfinals.
Yet the Swiss kept coming, and the flag-waving home crowd didn't relent with their chants of Hopp Schwiiz! They also whistled with lusty derision when captain Mark Streit was shaken up in the Swiss end on an Alexander Frolov high stick.
It didn't take long for the Swiss to capitalize on the ensuing mid-period power play. Rüthemann went hard to the net with the puck and Gardner banged in the rebound to make it 1-1. It was the first goal Bryzgalov had allowed in the tournament, ending his shutout streak after 69:46 minutes.
Swiss chances abounded as they outshot Russia 13-6 on the period. When Ilya Nikulin fell over inside the Swiss blueline, it set up a 2-on-1 rush for the host team, but although Severin Blindenbacher sent a sweet feed across to Roman Josi, Bryzgalov made a great sprawling save.
The defending champs killed off a delay-of-game penalty after Bryzgalov's clearing attempt went over the glass, but they weren't so lucky the next time. With Switzerland on the power play, Plüss got walloped at the blueline with a trip from Atyushov. With a delayed minor coming up to the Russian defenceman, Plüss got up, took a great pass from Streit, and scored into Bryzgalov's gaping cage at 17:17.
The Russians picked up the pace in the middle frame. Sergei Zinoviev busted down right wing and fed a cross-ice pass to Kovalchuk, who delayed before zinging a wrister under the crossbar to tie the game at 9:08 of the second.
Russia dominated the rest of the period in terms of puck possession, but couldn't pull ahead. A disciplined and determined Swiss defensive effort kept the score even. With under two minutes in the period, Andres Ambühl had the best Swiss chance when he cut to the net off right wing and almost shoveled the puck past Bryzgalov's right pad.
After Morozov made it 3-2 Russia in the third, Oleg Saprykin nearly added to his team's lead, hitting the post at close range. The Swiss pressed furiously in the dying minutes, adrenalized by the full-throated cheers of their fans, but couldn't find the equalizer. With 15 seconds left, Perezhogin added an empty-netter after stripping Streit of the puck at the Russian blueline.
"Close is not good enough," said Gardner. "Not getting points doesn't help us, but we got some confidence out of the game. We know that we can play against any team here. We just gotta keep going like we did in the first and third periods tonight."
Morozov and Plüss were named Players of the Game for their respective teams.
The last time Switzerland beat Russia was 3-2 in St. Petersburg 2000. The first-ever Swiss win came on home ice at the 1998 tournament in Basle, by a 4-2 count.
Ugarov, Mezin are big in win
ZURICH-KLOTEN In a game that had ramifications for both sides, Belarus defeated a much-improved Hungary team 3-1. Alexei Ugarovs goal with 5:35 left in the third salvaged the win for Belarus.
For fifty-five minutes, the game could have gone either way. Hungary showed its ability to generate scoring chances and move quickly to the puck. As well, Levente Szuper rebounded from a difficult game against Canada to a solid performance.
Once again, Hungarian spectators were out in full force with drums, chants, and the usual enthusiasm that has been emblematic of Team Hungarys experience here in Kloten.
Teams traded chances throughout the first period. Hungary had several close quarter chances on Andre Mezin, who was making his second straight start.
Tic-tac-toe passing led to Belarus first goal. With Viktor Szelig in the penalty box for tripping, Belarus was able to work the puck down around the net where Alexei Kaliuzhny scored off a pass from Sundays hero, Oleg Antonenko.
"We had a little problem with our start again," said Szuper. "I don't know whether we get nervous or what but that is the third game in a row. We have to learn to calm down."
Towards the end of the first and for the rest of the game, Hungary took the action to Belarus. Imre Peterdi tied the score scored off a no look pass from Balazs Ladanyi at 5:14 into the second period. The goal was Peterdis second of the tournament. Marton Vas picked up the secondary assist.
Hungary came out in the third and dominated the first ten minutes of the period. They peppered Mezin with shots from close range. Ladanyi had a dead on scoring opportunity that Mezin saved and two minutes later Janos Vas fired a snapshot that Mezin knocked away.
"This was a hard game, a tough game," said Mikhail Grabovski. "They played smart in the defensive zone. They always had five men back."
Late in the period, Belarus got the break they were looking for.
Off a faceoff deep in the Belarus zone, Kaliuzhny got control of the puck and saucered a cross ice pass to Ugarov who was breaking through the neutral zone. Once he got control of the puck, Ugarov was in on a break and sent a backhand past Szuper into the net.
Grabovski added an empty netter for good measure when Hungary pulled Szuper with a minute remaining in the game.
"We've made it to the Qualification Round, which is what we wanted to do but we will have to improve our play," said Grabovski.
Belarus can finish second in Group A with a Canada win this evening. Hungary now moves to the Relegation Round.
Our main goal is to stay up and keep dreaming the dream," said Szuper. "We want to show our fans and the world we want to be here."
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Swede victory!
BERNE – In the last game in Group C, Sweden and the US put on an entertaining show with all the elements of a great hockey game. In the end, the Swedes came out on top, having rallied back from a 5-2 deficit to a 6-5 OT win.
At the halfway mark of the third period, the US had a 5-2 lead. Seven minutes and 59 seconds after the Americans' fifth goal, the game was tied at five, with the Swedes in the driver's seat. And just a little over minute into the overtime, Kristian Huselius got a chance he didn't miss, grabbing the win for the Swedes.
Magnus Johansson got a goal and two assists, Mattias Weinhandl two goals and assist for the Swedes, Ryan Shannon netted two and Jack Johnson and John Michael Liles collected 1+2=3 points each for the US.
Swedish coach Bengt-Åke Gustafsson decided to let goalkeeper Jonas Gustavsson play his first career World Championship game. Gustavsson was Sweden’s third goalie in as many games. It turned out to be a smart move as Gustavsson was the team's best player tonight.
"How often do you see a goalie give up five goals and still be their best player? He was fantastic. We might have hand nine or ten goals tonight otherwise," the US head coach Ron Wilson said.
The first shifts of the game showed what the teams had in store, exchanging punches, the game flowing from end to end in a good pace. But few fans could anticipate all the turns of the rollercoaster tonight.
With six minutes remaining in the first period, Jason Blake sent Patrick O’Sullivan on a breakway. O’Sullivan shook off the Swedish defencemen and beat Gustavsson with a wristshot to the topshelf.
The second period was filled with powerplays. First, Sweden got its chance to tie the game when Suter took his second penalty of the game. Dick Tärnström got the puck to Magnus Johansson on the blueline, he sent a hard cross ice pass to Mattias Weinhandl waiting at the farside, with an easy job to send the puck into the American net at 25:07.
A minute and 35 seconds later, Marcus Nilson picked up a rebound and gave Sweden a 2-1 lead.
That's when Sweden’s powerplay woes started. First Tony Mårtensson was sent off for slashing, then Rickard Wallin joined him for tripping, giving the Americans a two-man advantage. John Michael Liles skated all the way to the faceoff point, then backed up to the slot and sent a slapshot past Gustavsson.
Six minutes later, the Swedes found themselves in the same situation. This time Liles and Jack Johnson played the puck to Ryan Shannon, who beat Gustavsson on the shortside, giving the Americans the lead for the second time in the game.
Thanks to the powerplays, the US also outshot Sweden 33-17 in the first two periods.
"We made some mistakes and bad decisions that gave them scoring chances. The players have to make decisions in a thousandth of a second and sometimes they make the wrong one," said Bengt-Åke Gustafsson.
The Americans kept the wheels turning. At 44:06, Shannon scored his second of the night after Drew Stafford found him in the slot.
Four minutes later, TJ Oshie carried the puck into the Swedish zone, found Jack Johnson on his right and sent a saucer to Johnson, who onetimed it next to the right post, making it 5-2 at 48:20.
Just 26 seconds later, Magnus Johansson followed the Swedish attack and sent Weinhandl’s pass past Robert Esche in the American goal to bring the Swedes a little closer again.
And then a little closer. Niklas Persson followed Kenny Jönsson's and Kristian Huselius's 2-on-1 attack which the Americans stopped, but the puck found its way to his blade in the slot, and he slammed it past Esche to make it 5-4, at 52:45.
At 56:19, the Swedes were as close as they could get. Completely even. Weinhandl carried the puck into the American zone, and took a wrist shot from the top of the circle, surprising Esche on the glove side, for his second of the night.
In the overtime, Patrick O'Sullivan turned the puck over on the Swedish blueline, giving the Swedes a chance to go on attack. After several chances, the puck ended up with Kristian Huselius, who completed Sweden's magical night, and gave the team the win on overtime.
"This was an important win for the team, it'll make us stronger. It looked bad there for a while, and I think even our fans had lost faith, but turning the game around like this is good for our morale," Huselius said.
Sweden will play reigning world champion Russia on Thursday afternoon. Team USA has a day off, then takes on France on Friday.
Finns rally past Czechs
ZURICH-KLOTEN – Down 3-1, Finland skated to a 4-3 win on Niklas Hagman’s game-winner with 8:01 remaining in the third.
The line of Hagman, Antti Miettinen and Niko Kapanen, accounting for three of Finland’s four goals. Niko Kapanen had two goals and an assist.
By finishing first in Group D, Finland will play Slovakia on Friday at 20:15. The Czech Republic will play Canada tomorrow at 20:15.
"They were our toughest opponents so far," said Tommi Santala. "But we came back and won, which was huge for us."
This evening’s game was, in so many ways, the best of the tournament in Kloten so far. Both sides would attack and counterattack, as the transition game ensured that fans in attendance were treated to a thrilling contest.
A breakdown by the Czechs in the neutral zone led to the first scoring opportunity as Niko Kapanen moved in on goal against goaltender Jakub Stepanek. Kapanen scored his fourth goal of the World Championships at 9:32.
The Czechs wasted little time in answering back as Tomas Rolinek converted a pass from Sami Kapanen had the puck dribble off his stick in the neutral zone as he fell down. Jan Mark picked the puck up and fed Rolinek who was moving in stride on net. Rolinek’s backhander made it 1-1.
The Czechs would leave the ice in the first period with a 2-1 lead, thanks to Miroslav Blatak. Jaromir Jagr put a perfect pass onto the stick of Blatak who one-timed a shot to the open side at 13:30 for his second goal of the tournament.
The Czech would get a two-goal cushion when Ales Kotalik let go of a blast that went far right, stickside and past Pekka Rinne.
At that point it seemed the Czechs were in clear command. But Finland would claw back as Ville Koistinen let go a hard wrist shot at the point that went straight through Stepanek’s pads to cut the lead at 3:52 into the second.
Finnish forward Leo Komarov, added to the lineup today, had a great chance to tie the score but could not connect off a Tuomas Pihlman pass.
The turning point in the game for Finland was when they enjoyed a 5-on-3 power play with 1:32 remaining in the period. They wasted no time in moving the puck and pouncing on the chance to score.
Hannes Hyvönen faked a slapshot and sent a pass down low to Miettinen who whipped this pass through Marek Zidlicky and on the stick of Niko Kapanen who roofed it home to tie the score on his second goal of the game.
The goal was Kapanen’s fifth of the tournament, eclipsing his previous high of four at the 2000 World Championships in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Finland continued to pour on the pressure and almost added another with ten second left in the middle frame. The breakthrough would come when Hagman scored off a pass from Miettinen for the decider.
A late penalty by Janne Niinimaa gave the Czechs one last opportunity but the Finns would prevail.
"It was an intense game and fun to play," said Anssi Salmela. "Even when we were down 3-1 we believed this was our game to win. We feel we're in good shape going into the next round."
The road ahead
After the Preliminary Round has been played, the best three teams of each group advance to the Qualification Round and take their points from the mutual games with them. The Relegation round begins on Friday.
Qualification Round
Group E consists of Russia (6 points), USA (4 points), Sweden (3 points), Switzerland (3 points), Latvia (2 points), and France (0 points).
Group F consists of Canada (6 points), Finland (6 points), Czech Republic (3 points), Belarus (2 points), Slovakia (1 point), and Norway (0 points).
The second stage opens with notable games like Russia vs. Sweden and Canada vs. the Czech Republic on Thursday. First-day action also sees Belarus-Norway and Switzerland-Latvia in crucial games for a quarterfinal berth
Relegation Round
The relegation round consists of Austria, Denmark, Germany and Hungary, which will play a round-robin (three games per team). The bottom two teams will be relegated, except if Germany places 15th (in which case 14th and 16th place will be relegated) or if Germany places 16th (in which case 14th and 15th place will be relegated). This is because Germany is the host nation for the 2010 IIHF World Championship.
The Road to the Medals
Quarter-final pairings: 1E-4F, 2E-3F, 1F-4E, 2F-3E
The winning teams advance to the semi-finals. Date and time is TBA. If Switzerland qualifies for the QF, then they will play the evening game on May 7 (game 52).
Semi-final pairings: Winner 1E-4F vs Winner 2F-3E, Winner 1F-4E vs Winner 2E-3F
If Switzerland qualifies for the SF, then they will play the evening game on May 8 (game 54).
The winning teams advance to the final. The losing teams to the bronze medal game
BERNE – In the last game in Group C, Sweden and the US put on an entertaining show with all the elements of a great hockey game. In the end, the Swedes came out on top, having rallied back from a 5-2 deficit to a 6-5 OT win.
At the halfway mark of the third period, the US had a 5-2 lead. Seven minutes and 59 seconds after the Americans' fifth goal, the game was tied at five, with the Swedes in the driver's seat. And just a little over minute into the overtime, Kristian Huselius got a chance he didn't miss, grabbing the win for the Swedes.
Magnus Johansson got a goal and two assists, Mattias Weinhandl two goals and assist for the Swedes, Ryan Shannon netted two and Jack Johnson and John Michael Liles collected 1+2=3 points each for the US.
Swedish coach Bengt-Åke Gustafsson decided to let goalkeeper Jonas Gustavsson play his first career World Championship game. Gustavsson was Sweden’s third goalie in as many games. It turned out to be a smart move as Gustavsson was the team's best player tonight.
"How often do you see a goalie give up five goals and still be their best player? He was fantastic. We might have hand nine or ten goals tonight otherwise," the US head coach Ron Wilson said.
The first shifts of the game showed what the teams had in store, exchanging punches, the game flowing from end to end in a good pace. But few fans could anticipate all the turns of the rollercoaster tonight.
With six minutes remaining in the first period, Jason Blake sent Patrick O’Sullivan on a breakway. O’Sullivan shook off the Swedish defencemen and beat Gustavsson with a wristshot to the topshelf.
The second period was filled with powerplays. First, Sweden got its chance to tie the game when Suter took his second penalty of the game. Dick Tärnström got the puck to Magnus Johansson on the blueline, he sent a hard cross ice pass to Mattias Weinhandl waiting at the farside, with an easy job to send the puck into the American net at 25:07.
A minute and 35 seconds later, Marcus Nilson picked up a rebound and gave Sweden a 2-1 lead.
That's when Sweden’s powerplay woes started. First Tony Mårtensson was sent off for slashing, then Rickard Wallin joined him for tripping, giving the Americans a two-man advantage. John Michael Liles skated all the way to the faceoff point, then backed up to the slot and sent a slapshot past Gustavsson.
Six minutes later, the Swedes found themselves in the same situation. This time Liles and Jack Johnson played the puck to Ryan Shannon, who beat Gustavsson on the shortside, giving the Americans the lead for the second time in the game.
Thanks to the powerplays, the US also outshot Sweden 33-17 in the first two periods.
"We made some mistakes and bad decisions that gave them scoring chances. The players have to make decisions in a thousandth of a second and sometimes they make the wrong one," said Bengt-Åke Gustafsson.
The Americans kept the wheels turning. At 44:06, Shannon scored his second of the night after Drew Stafford found him in the slot.
Four minutes later, TJ Oshie carried the puck into the Swedish zone, found Jack Johnson on his right and sent a saucer to Johnson, who onetimed it next to the right post, making it 5-2 at 48:20.
Just 26 seconds later, Magnus Johansson followed the Swedish attack and sent Weinhandl’s pass past Robert Esche in the American goal to bring the Swedes a little closer again.
And then a little closer. Niklas Persson followed Kenny Jönsson's and Kristian Huselius's 2-on-1 attack which the Americans stopped, but the puck found its way to his blade in the slot, and he slammed it past Esche to make it 5-4, at 52:45.
At 56:19, the Swedes were as close as they could get. Completely even. Weinhandl carried the puck into the American zone, and took a wrist shot from the top of the circle, surprising Esche on the glove side, for his second of the night.
In the overtime, Patrick O'Sullivan turned the puck over on the Swedish blueline, giving the Swedes a chance to go on attack. After several chances, the puck ended up with Kristian Huselius, who completed Sweden's magical night, and gave the team the win on overtime.
"This was an important win for the team, it'll make us stronger. It looked bad there for a while, and I think even our fans had lost faith, but turning the game around like this is good for our morale," Huselius said.
Sweden will play reigning world champion Russia on Thursday afternoon. Team USA has a day off, then takes on France on Friday.
Finns rally past Czechs
ZURICH-KLOTEN – Down 3-1, Finland skated to a 4-3 win on Niklas Hagman’s game-winner with 8:01 remaining in the third.
The line of Hagman, Antti Miettinen and Niko Kapanen, accounting for three of Finland’s four goals. Niko Kapanen had two goals and an assist.
By finishing first in Group D, Finland will play Slovakia on Friday at 20:15. The Czech Republic will play Canada tomorrow at 20:15.
"They were our toughest opponents so far," said Tommi Santala. "But we came back and won, which was huge for us."
This evening’s game was, in so many ways, the best of the tournament in Kloten so far. Both sides would attack and counterattack, as the transition game ensured that fans in attendance were treated to a thrilling contest.
A breakdown by the Czechs in the neutral zone led to the first scoring opportunity as Niko Kapanen moved in on goal against goaltender Jakub Stepanek. Kapanen scored his fourth goal of the World Championships at 9:32.
The Czechs wasted little time in answering back as Tomas Rolinek converted a pass from Sami Kapanen had the puck dribble off his stick in the neutral zone as he fell down. Jan Mark picked the puck up and fed Rolinek who was moving in stride on net. Rolinek’s backhander made it 1-1.
The Czechs would leave the ice in the first period with a 2-1 lead, thanks to Miroslav Blatak. Jaromir Jagr put a perfect pass onto the stick of Blatak who one-timed a shot to the open side at 13:30 for his second goal of the tournament.
The Czech would get a two-goal cushion when Ales Kotalik let go of a blast that went far right, stickside and past Pekka Rinne.
At that point it seemed the Czechs were in clear command. But Finland would claw back as Ville Koistinen let go a hard wrist shot at the point that went straight through Stepanek’s pads to cut the lead at 3:52 into the second.
Finnish forward Leo Komarov, added to the lineup today, had a great chance to tie the score but could not connect off a Tuomas Pihlman pass.
The turning point in the game for Finland was when they enjoyed a 5-on-3 power play with 1:32 remaining in the period. They wasted no time in moving the puck and pouncing on the chance to score.
Hannes Hyvönen faked a slapshot and sent a pass down low to Miettinen who whipped this pass through Marek Zidlicky and on the stick of Niko Kapanen who roofed it home to tie the score on his second goal of the game.
The goal was Kapanen’s fifth of the tournament, eclipsing his previous high of four at the 2000 World Championships in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Finland continued to pour on the pressure and almost added another with ten second left in the middle frame. The breakthrough would come when Hagman scored off a pass from Miettinen for the decider.
A late penalty by Janne Niinimaa gave the Czechs one last opportunity but the Finns would prevail.
"It was an intense game and fun to play," said Anssi Salmela. "Even when we were down 3-1 we believed this was our game to win. We feel we're in good shape going into the next round."
The road ahead
After the Preliminary Round has been played, the best three teams of each group advance to the Qualification Round and take their points from the mutual games with them. The Relegation round begins on Friday.
Qualification Round
Group E consists of Russia (6 points), USA (4 points), Sweden (3 points), Switzerland (3 points), Latvia (2 points), and France (0 points).
Group F consists of Canada (6 points), Finland (6 points), Czech Republic (3 points), Belarus (2 points), Slovakia (1 point), and Norway (0 points).
The second stage opens with notable games like Russia vs. Sweden and Canada vs. the Czech Republic on Thursday. First-day action also sees Belarus-Norway and Switzerland-Latvia in crucial games for a quarterfinal berth
Relegation Round
The relegation round consists of Austria, Denmark, Germany and Hungary, which will play a round-robin (three games per team). The bottom two teams will be relegated, except if Germany places 15th (in which case 14th and 16th place will be relegated) or if Germany places 16th (in which case 14th and 15th place will be relegated). This is because Germany is the host nation for the 2010 IIHF World Championship.
The Road to the Medals
Quarter-final pairings: 1E-4F, 2E-3F, 1F-4E, 2F-3E
The winning teams advance to the semi-finals. Date and time is TBA. If Switzerland qualifies for the QF, then they will play the evening game on May 7 (game 52).
Semi-final pairings: Winner 1E-4F vs Winner 2F-3E, Winner 1F-4E vs Winner 2E-3F
If Switzerland qualifies for the SF, then they will play the evening game on May 8 (game 54).
The winning teams advance to the final. The losing teams to the bronze medal game
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