BUFFALO, NY- The results from Wednesday and Thursday’s games brought a lot of clarification to the Playoff Round of the International Ice Hockey Federation’s U20 World Junior Tournament being held in western New York. Five of six playoff spots have been claimed although which two teams will get byes into the Semi-Final round and which clubs must play in the Quarter-finals is still undecided.
Group B Playoff Round Scenarios:
Russia (3-points) and the Czech Republic (3-points) will battle for the last available playoff slot on Friday in Group B. Canada (9-points) and Sweden (9-points) with the only perfect records clash on Friday to decide supremacy in Group B and the Semi-Final representative out of this group. The loser of the match between Russia and the Czech Republic and Norway (0-points) will play in the Relegation Round
Group A Playoff Round Scenarios:
Meanwhile in Group A, the US (8-points), Finland (7-points) and Switzerland (6-points) are assured of advancing at least to the Quarter-Finals. Each of these three teams can still claim first place in the group with a win and the right combination of losses by other teams. Thus the bye to the Semi-Finals is still open with one Preliminary Round game left on each club’s schedule. Germany and Slovakia will play in the relegation round from Group A.
The Relegation Round determines the two squads that will drop to Division One in U20 IIHF competition for next year’s action. Latvia and Denmark qualified earlier this year for the 2012 top WJC Tournament.
Four games were on the menu today after just two games were played yesterday. In Wednesday’s action Canada blasted Norway 10-1 for their third win while Finland outskated Germany 5-1. A synopsis of action from today follows:
Group A:
Switzerland-6, Slovakia-4
The Swiss assured themselves of advancement to the Playoff Round here at the HSBC Arena today with the victory over Slovakia. The win did not come easy as Slovakia rallied several times to keep the game in doubt. After trailing by two goals 4-2 going into the third period Slovakia scored the next two goals tying the game at 4-4 with less than eight minutes left in regulation time. The Swiss though got the game winner just two minutes later. It came on a rebound off the stick of forward Samuel Walser. The Swiss added an empty net goal with 30 seconds left in regulation to add to their margin of victory. Other Swiss scores came from Nino Niederreiter, Sven Bartschi, Gregory Hoffman, Inti Prestoni and Dominik Schlumpf. Goaltender Benjamin Conz stopped 29 of 33 shots on goal in picking up the win. Both Slovakian goal tenders played in the game as Dominik Riecicky started but was relieved after the first period and three Swiss goals on 11 shots. He was replaced by Juraj Holly at the start of the second period. Holly allowed two goals on 25 shots. The other Swiss tally as mentioned was an empty netter. The Swiss play the US while Slovakia now required to play in the Relegation Round will face Finland on the last day of Preliminary Round action on Friday.
Germany-0, United States-4 INSERT PHOTO
The US National Team took a 2-0 lead out of period one and never looked back in their win over Germany. The win moved the US into first place in Group A and assured they control their own destiny for a bye into a Semi-Final slot if they beat winless Norway in their final Preliminary Round game.
The two first period goals came in the space of one minute. First at 6:35 Jerry D’ Amigo a member of last year’s gold medal team picked up an errant clearing pass and surprised the German net minder Nicklas Treutle on the stick side with a lightning wrist shot. Next at 7:23 Charlie Coyle picked up a loose puck from a crowd on the boards just inside the German blue line. He skated in alone top shelved the shot on Treutle’s glove side for the 2-0 lead. The American outshot Germany 23-2 in a dominating first period performance.
The Americans upped the lead to 3-0 in period two. The score came when defenseman Jon Merrill on an apparent attempt to just get a shot on net from the high slot watched the puck deflect off a German defender and into the net. The feeds on his shot came from Nick Bjugstad and Ryan Bourque. This strike at 12:06 was followed quickly by the other second period goal. Kris Kreider beat Treutle from the slot as he was set up beautifully by Kyle Palmieri. Kreider hit the back of the net at 13:10
The Germans got some pressure on winning goal tender Jack Campbell as they picked up 10 shots in the period. The offense by the Germans may have been a good thing just to keep Campbell in the game. He made all 10 required saves while on offense the US shot totals for two period hit 38.
The US seemed content to protect the lead in the final period and concentrated on keeping the Germans off the scoreboard. The defensive effort worked as the Germans managed just two shots and no goals in the final twenty minutes.
Treutle in goal for Germany was rightfully named the German player of the game as he faced 48 shots in the loss while Campbell faced 14 in total and only two shots in both the first and third periods. Campbell did get some rest as backup goalie Andy Iles got some playing time in the last ten minutes of the game but saw no shots on goal.
Group B
Sweden-6, Czech Republic-3
The Swedes with 6-3 win over the Czech Republic kept their part of the bargain to set up a battle on New Year’s Eve with Canada to determine which team will get the bye into the semi-final round of the WJC. In a poorly played game by both teams that was skated at Dyer Arena in Niagara, Sweden was tested before they sealed the win in the third period. The Czechs now head into a sudden death matchup against the Russians on Friday to determine who moves on to the Playoff Round and who must play to avoid relegation.
Fredrik Petersson-Wentzel stopped 18 of 21 shots on goal to record his third win of the tournament. He did not look particularly sharp in the win and will need to play a lot better against Canada to be successful. He will carry 2.0 goals against average into the game versus a high scoring Team Canada.
The Czechs used both of their net minders as Marek Mazanec started and Filip Novotny relieved him around the five minute mark of period two. This came shortly after Sweden’s Sebastian Wannstrom beat Mazanec from the right circle with a wrist shot. In came Novotny but just 43 seconds later Jesper Fasth put Sweden up 5-1 with his second goal in the game. His second strike came on a power play.
The 5-1 lead may have made the Swedes over confident as momentum shifted and the Czechs drew within two at 5-3 on two straight goals by forward Martin Frk. The second period ended 5-3. Sweden tightened up defensively in period three shutting the Czechs down and added an early third period goal from Calle Jarnkrok for the final 6-3 score. Johann Larsson and Max Friberg were the other goal scorers for Sweden while Michal Hlinka joined Frk in the scoring column for the Czech Republic.
Russia-8, Norway-2 INSERT PHOTO
The Russians avoided at least for one more game having to play in the Relegation Round. They managed a going away win over Norway at Dyer Arena in Niagara. It was their first win of the tournament. The game was initially a close affair that was deadlocked 2-2 at the end of the first period. Russia then gained a 3-2 lead in period two and pulled away with five unanswered goals in the third period to keep Norway winless.
Russia scored first as Nikita Dvurechenski beat Norwegian goalie Lars Volden at the 6:58 mark of the first period. This was countered by Norway’s Nicholas Weberg’s score at 11:59 for the 1-1 tie. Russia took a 2-1 lead less than a minute later when Danil Sobchenko lit the lamp. Norway then used a power play goal by Jonas Oppoyen to equalize the score and the two teams skated off for the first intermission tied surprising most observers.
The Russians took control of the game in period three after Vladimir Tarasenko staked his team to a 3-2 lead with the only goal of the second period. He beat Norwegian goaltender Lars Volden midway in the period with a power play marker.
The roof caved in on Norway in the final twenty minutes as the Russians offense went into high gear. They scored five straight goals which all came while the teams were at equal strength. Sobchenko started the outburst with his second goal of the game. His score was followed in order by goals from Maxim Kitsyn, Andrei Sergeyev, Yvgeni Kuznetsov and Artyom Voronin.
Dmitri Shikin got the win in goal stopping all but two of 24 shots by Norway. Volden was barraged by 55 Russian shots as he took the loss while giving up eight goals.
Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
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