“Slovenia Relegated from Ice Hockey World Championship Elite Group After Loss to Slovakia”

The Slovenians from the bottom of the basic group B won’t beat any of their opponents in Riga. Coach Matjaž Kopitar’s men did not score even in the sixth game of the tournament.

The Slovakian team, on the other hand, kept hope of progressing from the group to the knockout stages. It was decided by Richard Pánik’s goal 15 seconds after the start of the second period. Stanislav Škorvánek picked up the clean sheet thanks to 33 successful saves.

A single goal was enough for the Slovaks

The Slovaks, who needed a full point gain to maintain their chances of promotion, still have the situation in their hands. They are three points behind the fourth-placed Latvians, with the last match before both teams. In it, Slovakia will challenge Norway, the home team of Switzerland. In favor of the Slovakian selection, a mutual duel is played, in which they beat the Latvians 2:1.

Lunter had the first big chance in the sixth minute, but he couldn’t beat goalkeeper Gračnar. Despite good opportunities, the Slovaks did not take advantage of the first overtime, not long after it ended, Škorvánek’s attention was checked by Sabolič. In the 19th minute, a completely alone Maver appeared in front of the Slovakian goalkeeper for a moment, but lost the mini-fight with Škorvánek. The Slovaks won the opening period with accurate shots 17:6, but it still ended goalless.

The beginning of the second act brought the decisive moment of the entire match. Regenda did a great job of finding Pánik, who had been stepped on in front of the offensive blue line, and although the puck escaped a little before the end, he was still able to shoot past Gračnar. Lunter and Hrivík could have increased the lead of the Slovaks shortly after each other, but they failed. Verlič, on the other hand, was close to equalizing with a huge chance in the power play in the 26th minute, but narrowly missed from an ideal position.

Hudáček and Urbas, on the other hand, did not take advantage of other opportunities. The Slovenians then played the second overtime in the match, but instead of equalizing, they almost took a two-goal deficit. After the escape of Sukeľ, Gračnar kept Slovenian hopes afloat.

In the third 20-minute period, the Slovaks carefully guarded their lead, while the opponent was chasing an equaliser. Although the Slovenians had a shot advantage (16:9), they did not overcome Škorvánek even in the final game without a goalkeeper, when Sabolič and Jeglič had great chances.

The Germans struck in the middle part

The Germans decided the duel in the second period, in which they bounced from a 1:0 to 4:0 lead within three minutes, Nico Sturm scored two goals, John Peterka collected four Canadian points for the goal and three assists.

The Hungarians started the match well and created two promising chances in the first minute. Subsequently, however, the opponent dominated the duel and the central figure was goalkeeper Dominik Horváth for a long time. He made seven saves in the first five minutes. The Germans took the lead in the 8th minute when Stachowiak scored after a quick finish.

However, Horváth coped with other chances and kept the team in the game. In the 26th minute, Szuber went to the cabins with a higher penalty and the Hungarians had a chance to equalize. In addition, Seider was immediately expelled and the Germans defended themselves in three. Sofron even managed to beat goalkeeper Niederberger, but referee Hribik disallowed the goal due to a previous foul by Bartalis immediately after the goal.

The Hungarians thereby lost part of their advantage, and after regaining the advantage of one player in the field, they clearly documented why they are the worst in the use of power plays in the tournament. So far, they have not been able to punish a single foul by their opponents. And the Germans punished them in the second part. First, Seider and Sturm scored within 18 seconds, then in the 38th minute, Sturm finally decided the duel with a power play and scored his fifth goal at the World Cup.

At the beginning of the third part, Peterka added the fifth goal after Horváth’s individual action and hesitation. Hungary then managed to score two goals, but the Germans took over again and added more goals. The Hungarians are still waiting for their first victory over Germany, they conceded seven goals for the fourth time at the World Cup.