Things got tighter on Day 3 of the IIHF Class A Group A World Championship in Bolzano with three border clashes, all of which were won by the teams that entered the day lower in the standings. The result is that all six teams are now within three points of each other, and most still have a realistic chance of qualifying. Hungary and Slovenia are at the top with six points and at the other end Korea and Romania with three.
Hungary 1 – Romania 2
In a stunning start to the day, previously winless Romania beat previously unbeaten Hungary to round out the standings a bit. The game was scoreless after 40 minutes and despite being heavily favored, Hungary only held a 16-15 lead in shots. However, the Hungarians turned up the pressure with several high-danger chances early in the third period.
Against the run of play, however, it was Romania who opened the scoring with 10:31 left in regulation, Balasz Peter ripping a shot from the top of the circle over the blocker of Bence Balizs. Hungary then went back on the attack and equalized with 5:20 left when Zeteny Hadobas’ shot was deflected out of the air by Janos Hari and past Zoltan Toke.
“It’s been a rollercoaster,” Peter said of the third period. “For a long time we were 1-0 up and I think everyone thought we could win 1-0, but when they scored, the biggest thing is that we didn’t give up like we did in the last two games.”
With just under a minute to play, Otto Sandor Szekely brought the puck in from the right wing, cut across the front of the net with his forehand and, from close range, took a shot that Balisz took a piece of and dribbled over the finish line. .
“It was crazy!” exclaimed Romanian captain Roberto Gliga, who had the main assist on the winning goal. “To be honest, we didn’t expect it, but we tried our luck and it was an incredible feeling. Even the scorer couldn’t believe it – I could see it in his face.”
Said Gliga: “We have taken baby steps. In the first game there were some flashes where we played well, and then against Slovenia we had almost two periods where we were in the game and now we took the next step where we played well the whole game.”
Japan 4 – Korea 3
In another tight game between regional rivals, three times Korea took the lead and three times Japan responded. The Japanese didn’t take their first lead until the final seven minutes, but it was enough to secure the win and overtake Korea in the standings.
“This is my first year with the national team, so I don’t know much about the rivalry, but I know we haven’t won much against Korea,” said Japan defender Kazuki Lawlor, who scored his team’s first goal and provided an assist . to the winner. “I think they were pretty confident they were going to beat us.”
“We are so disappointed right now. I can’t believe it,” said a despondent Korean forward Sangyeob Kim, who had two assists. “We still have games against Romania and Italy and we have to really prepare for them. We have to rest and have a good training session tomorrow and get ready for these games now. That’s all.”
With the score tied 2-2 after two, Korea scored 14 seconds into the third period when Don Ku Lee’s point shot beat Yuta Narisawa, who was starting his third straight game for Japan, cleanly.
Yu Sato tied it with 8:20 to go, carrying the puck into Korea’s zone and beating Yeonseung Lee at the glove. And then just 1:27 later, Japan took the lead. Off the rush, Kohei Sato made a backhand pass to Sota Isogai, who scored his second goal of the game.
“It wasn’t our set. We just went with the flow,” Lawlor said. “It was a great goal”
Slovenia 2 – Italy 0
Slovenia had a big advantage in the game in the first period and a 16-6 advantage in shots, but there was only a goal and it was a bit lucky, with Rok Ticar’s attempt to center in the back of the net on an Italian skate. Or was he lucky?
“Yeah, he was lucky, but I gave it a try because I saw there were a few guys in front and I said, ‘I’m going to try to hit some of them,'” smiled Ticar.
In the second period the tables turned somewhat, with 9-3 shots for Italy, but without scoring. The Italians’ best chance of the opening 40 minutes came late in the middle frame, with Daniel Franck unable to convert a pass with an open net in front of him as the large Bolzano crowd groaned in unison.
“We knew they were going to try to attack, so we waited and tried to create breakouts,” Ticar said. “They also got some power plays and we blocked shots, the goalie was unbelievable and it was an important win.”
Early in the third period, Italy went on the power play trying to equalize and had some great displays but couldn’t bury a chance. And shortly after returning to full strength, Slovenia went 2-0 up when Blaz Tomazevic turned the Italian net and found Anze Kuralt at the far post, who beat Damian Clara high.
“I think at the beginning of the game, we showed them too much respect,” said Italian forward Diego Costner. “We didn’t pressure them and they struggled to get into our zone and create chances. You saw when we played our game in the second and third periods, we were able to put them under pressure and we had some really good scoring opportunities. We have to try to shoot faster and go to the net harder and the goals will come in. We have to do better on Friday and Saturday.”
Italy continued to press but couldn’t solve Gasper Kroselj, who pitched a 30-save shutout.
Everyone gets Thursday off, and then on Friday we have Korea vs. Romania, Slovenia vs. Japan, and Italy vs. Hungary. After that, everyone will know the situation on the final day of action on Saturday.