Estonia is now the only team with a perfect record in the tournament and is looking to earn promotion after their 4–2 win over Korea. Romania beat Spain 4–1, and China downed the Netherlands 6-3.
Korea - Estonia, 2-4 (2–1, 0–1, 0–2)
Korea and Estonia battled for the top spot in the tournament and to stay in contention for promotion. Estonia’s dream is still alive after their 4–2 win.
Last year, Korea beat Estonia 4–1 in Tallinn, and early on it looked like today’s game would be a similar affair when Korea took an early lead.
At the end of a long shift, Donghyun Shin held on to the puck behind Estonia’s net and waited until Yoon Seok Kang found open ice. Donghyun Shin flipped the puck to Kang, who one-timed it in to give Korea a 1–0 lead at 4:51.
Estonia tied it at 12:34 after a long forecheck and cycle play. Robert Ossipov found Kristjan Kombe open at the right faceoff circle, and Kombe fired a top-shelf wrister past Yeonseung Lee in Korea’s goal.
Korea scored the go-ahead goal exactly 60 seconds later.
Heedoo Nam fired a slap shot from the point, and Sanghoon Shin redirected it in from the slot.
Estonia carried the play for most of the second period, energized by their early goal to make it 2–2 and by the way Erik Potsinok scored it on a solo effort. He intercepted a stray pass at the red line and forced his way all the way to the front of the net, then grabbed his own rebound and slammed it in at 1:57 into the period.
Maksim Burkov broke the deadlock on a solo effort of his own when he picked a Korean forward’s pocket in Estonia’s zone, turned around, and outskated the Korean backcheckers before finishing with a nifty backhander at 6:03.
After the goal, Korea pushed hard to get back into the game, but Estonia defended well, and whatever breakdowns there were, goaltender Conrad Molder was there to save the day.
Korea outshot Estonia 10–4 in the third period, but two of Estonia’s shots found the back of the net, and David Timofejev sealed the final score with an empty-net goal exactly one minute remaining in the game. It was his fifth goal in the tournament.
Estonia still has a perfect record after three games.
Romania – Spain, 4–1 (1–1, 3–0, 0–0)
A strong three-goal second period carried Romania to a 4–1 win over Spain in the first game of Day 3 of the tournament. With the win, Romania stays in the hunt for promotion to Division I, Group A.
Romania was the favorite in the game, and they got off to a great start when Patrik Imre beat Spanish goaltender Pablo Salvador from the doorstep at 3:36. Imre had an easy job tapping the puck in off a smart pass from Matias Haaranen.
Spain tied the game on the power play with 3:59 remaining in the period when Jaime Capillas went coast to coast through the Romanian defense and beat Attila Adorjan with a quick wrist shot on the stick side.
Romania stepped on the gas in the second period and outshot Spain 12–3.
Tamas Reszegh gave Romania the lead on the power play after four minutes of play in a perfect reproduction of the first goal. This time it was Hunor Csaszar who delivered the final pass on the tape, and Reszegh had an easy task redirecting it into the net for his fourth goal in the tournament.
Romania’s third goal came only 1:45 after the second one. Otto Sandor Szekely entered the zone from the right, made a quick turn, and flipped the puck to Richard Rokaly, who took a step in and fired a wrister off the post and in.
Csaszar picked up his second point of the game at 12:50 into the period when he battled his way to the front of Spain’s net and slammed in the 4–1 goal. Konsta Mesikammen and Imre—who also collected two points in the game—picked up assists.
Just like in their game against Korea, Spain never gave up and pushed back hard in the third, outshooting Romania 10–2 but couldn’t beat Adorjan.
Romania has seven points after three games and can, with a win over Estonia, take over the top spot.
Netherlands – China, 3–6 (0–3, 3–2, 0–1)
The Dutch team had scored only once in their two previous games while allowing a dozen. China, in turn, came to the game energized by their overtime win over Romania.
China got off to a dream start when Haoxi Wang’s wrister from the Chinese blue line caught Netherlands goaltender Ruud Leeuwesteijn by surprise at 06:26.
Wang was at it again a mere two minutes later when the Chinese power play set him up for a slap shot from the point. The tall defenseman fired a cannon of a shot that found its way through traffic and beat Leeuwesteijn high on the stick side at 08:35.
With 3:41 remaining in the period, Yuyang Hou intercepted a Dutch breakout pass in the slot and fired a quick wrist shot that beat Leeuwesteijn on the short side to give China a three-goal buffer after the first period.
The middle frame started slowly and got almost halfway through before the home crowd had something to cheer about again. Jianing Guo carried the puck into the Netherlands zone at high speed, turned on a dime to shake off a Dutch defender, and flipped a backhand pass to Zimeng Chen, who followed the rush and beat Cedrick Andree through the five-hole to make it 4–0 at 9:39.
Then things got wild.
The Netherlands scored three times within two minutes and 51 seconds.
First, Bjorn Borgman redirected Wouter Sars’s point shot on the power play at 11:17. Then, less than two minutes later, Raymond van der Schuit set up team captain Danny Stempher for a shot from the slot, and he wired it top shelf.
Another two minutes later, China took a roughing minor and the Netherlands power play got to work. Borgman and Stempher set the table, and van der Schuit tapped it in from the doorstep to bring the Dutch within one at 15:28.
With 1:39 remaining in the period, Juncheng Yan gave China some breathing room when he—after a nice give-and-go with Hou—snapped a wrister from the slot to make it 5–3 going into the third period.
The Netherlands had their chances to score more goals and, even though they outshot China 12–6 in the period, they couldn’t solve Shifeng Chen in China’s goal.
With 1:32 remaining in the game, Hou scored his second goal and fourth point of the game when he made it 6–3 with an empty-netter.
The tournament continues tomorrow with three games:
Estonia – Romania
Korea – Netherlands
China – Spain
Korea - Estonia, 2-4 (2–1, 0–1, 0–2)
Korea and Estonia battled for the top spot in the tournament and to stay in contention for promotion. Estonia’s dream is still alive after their 4–2 win.
Last year, Korea beat Estonia 4–1 in Tallinn, and early on it looked like today’s game would be a similar affair when Korea took an early lead.
At the end of a long shift, Donghyun Shin held on to the puck behind Estonia’s net and waited until Yoon Seok Kang found open ice. Donghyun Shin flipped the puck to Kang, who one-timed it in to give Korea a 1–0 lead at 4:51.
Estonia tied it at 12:34 after a long forecheck and cycle play. Robert Ossipov found Kristjan Kombe open at the right faceoff circle, and Kombe fired a top-shelf wrister past Yeonseung Lee in Korea’s goal.
Korea scored the go-ahead goal exactly 60 seconds later.
Heedoo Nam fired a slap shot from the point, and Sanghoon Shin redirected it in from the slot.
Estonia carried the play for most of the second period, energized by their early goal to make it 2–2 and by the way Erik Potsinok scored it on a solo effort. He intercepted a stray pass at the red line and forced his way all the way to the front of the net, then grabbed his own rebound and slammed it in at 1:57 into the period.
Maksim Burkov broke the deadlock on a solo effort of his own when he picked a Korean forward’s pocket in Estonia’s zone, turned around, and outskated the Korean backcheckers before finishing with a nifty backhander at 6:03.
After the goal, Korea pushed hard to get back into the game, but Estonia defended well, and whatever breakdowns there were, goaltender Conrad Molder was there to save the day.
Korea outshot Estonia 10–4 in the third period, but two of Estonia’s shots found the back of the net, and David Timofejev sealed the final score with an empty-net goal exactly one minute remaining in the game. It was his fifth goal in the tournament.
Estonia still has a perfect record after three games.
Romania – Spain, 4–1 (1–1, 3–0, 0–0)
A strong three-goal second period carried Romania to a 4–1 win over Spain in the first game of Day 3 of the tournament. With the win, Romania stays in the hunt for promotion to Division I, Group A.
Romania was the favorite in the game, and they got off to a great start when Patrik Imre beat Spanish goaltender Pablo Salvador from the doorstep at 3:36. Imre had an easy job tapping the puck in off a smart pass from Matias Haaranen.
Spain tied the game on the power play with 3:59 remaining in the period when Jaime Capillas went coast to coast through the Romanian defense and beat Attila Adorjan with a quick wrist shot on the stick side.
Romania stepped on the gas in the second period and outshot Spain 12–3.
Tamas Reszegh gave Romania the lead on the power play after four minutes of play in a perfect reproduction of the first goal. This time it was Hunor Csaszar who delivered the final pass on the tape, and Reszegh had an easy task redirecting it into the net for his fourth goal in the tournament.
Romania’s third goal came only 1:45 after the second one. Otto Sandor Szekely entered the zone from the right, made a quick turn, and flipped the puck to Richard Rokaly, who took a step in and fired a wrister off the post and in.
Csaszar picked up his second point of the game at 12:50 into the period when he battled his way to the front of Spain’s net and slammed in the 4–1 goal. Konsta Mesikammen and Imre—who also collected two points in the game—picked up assists.
Just like in their game against Korea, Spain never gave up and pushed back hard in the third, outshooting Romania 10–2 but couldn’t beat Adorjan.
Romania has seven points after three games and can, with a win over Estonia, take over the top spot.
Netherlands – China, 3–6 (0–3, 3–2, 0–1)
The Dutch team had scored only once in their two previous games while allowing a dozen. China, in turn, came to the game energized by their overtime win over Romania.
China got off to a dream start when Haoxi Wang’s wrister from the Chinese blue line caught Netherlands goaltender Ruud Leeuwesteijn by surprise at 06:26.
Wang was at it again a mere two minutes later when the Chinese power play set him up for a slap shot from the point. The tall defenseman fired a cannon of a shot that found its way through traffic and beat Leeuwesteijn high on the stick side at 08:35.
With 3:41 remaining in the period, Yuyang Hou intercepted a Dutch breakout pass in the slot and fired a quick wrist shot that beat Leeuwesteijn on the short side to give China a three-goal buffer after the first period.
The middle frame started slowly and got almost halfway through before the home crowd had something to cheer about again. Jianing Guo carried the puck into the Netherlands zone at high speed, turned on a dime to shake off a Dutch defender, and flipped a backhand pass to Zimeng Chen, who followed the rush and beat Cedrick Andree through the five-hole to make it 4–0 at 9:39.
Then things got wild.
The Netherlands scored three times within two minutes and 51 seconds.
First, Bjorn Borgman redirected Wouter Sars’s point shot on the power play at 11:17. Then, less than two minutes later, Raymond van der Schuit set up team captain Danny Stempher for a shot from the slot, and he wired it top shelf.
Another two minutes later, China took a roughing minor and the Netherlands power play got to work. Borgman and Stempher set the table, and van der Schuit tapped it in from the doorstep to bring the Dutch within one at 15:28.
With 1:39 remaining in the period, Juncheng Yan gave China some breathing room when he—after a nice give-and-go with Hou—snapped a wrister from the slot to make it 5–3 going into the third period.
The Netherlands had their chances to score more goals and, even though they outshot China 12–6 in the period, they couldn’t solve Shifeng Chen in China’s goal.
With 1:32 remaining in the game, Hou scored his second goal and fourth point of the game when he made it 6–3 with an empty-netter.
The tournament continues tomorrow with three games:
Estonia – Romania
Korea – Netherlands
China – Spain