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WHC: USA Beats Kazakhstan; Sweden Blows out Switzerland

The fifth day of the IIHF World Hockey Championship saw Denmark defeat Great Britain 3-2 in overtime, with the Brits picking up a point for the first time this tournament and Finland defeat Norway 5-2.

In games involving Devils players, the United States knocked off Kazakhstan 3-0 while Sweden was all over the Swiss, 7-0.

The US game featured Matt Tennyson picking up an assist for a point as well as two penalty minutes and three shots on goal in 15:58 of time on ice. Matt Hellickson had four shots on net in 18:12 of ice time.

Adam Clendening got the Americans on the board early, 6:57 into the game, off assists from Jason Robertson and Trevor Moore.

The Americans were up 1-0 heading into the second period and it only took 1:33 to get them up by two.

Moore notched one less than two minutes in to the second off of a helper by Zac Jones. Just like that, it was 2-0 USA.

The US would round things out in the third. Again, it came very early, just 1:58 in this time. Jack Drury found the back of the net from Ryan Donato and Tennyson to make it a three-spot for the USA.

And that was it. Kazakhstan took a tripping penalty by Alexei Maklyukov with just about two minutes to go in regulation. This meant that the Kazakhs spent the remaining portion of the game killing a penalty and could not get the extra skater on.

So with that win, the US moves into fourth place in Group B with a 2-1-0 record and a plus-six goal differential, to go along with six points.

Now on to Group A where the Swedes and the Swiss were due for battle.

While Jonas Siegenthaler did not suit up today for Switzerland, Nico Hischier did and got 17:41 of ice time while not registering a shot or a point.

This game saw Sweden score early and often.

Jesper Froden got the ball rolling at 8:35 of the first when he scored from Lawrence Pilut and Magnus Nygren. Adrian Kempe finished the scoring in the first for the Swedes when he scored at 10:00 from Henrik Tommernes and Nils Lundkvist.

In the second period, Victor Olofsson scored 2:33 in – on the power play – from Lundkvist.

Froden got his second of the game from Andreas Wingerli and Klas Dahlbeck at 10:24. Following this goal, Swiss goaltender Leonardo Genoni was pulled in favor of Melvin Nyffeler.

Late in the second, Switzerland took a too many men on the ice penalty at 19:14. Early in the third, Noah Rod of the Swiss took a high sticking call to put the Swedes up 5-on-3 for the next 45 or so seconds. The too many men penalty expired but Sweden would score on the Rod high sticking penalty when Nygren scored at 1:18 from Rickard Rakell and Kempe. It was now 5-0 Sweden.

Lundkvist notched another point 7:14 into the third when he scored from Kempe and Tommernes. About 3:30 later, Tommernes would add one of his own (from Froden and Lundkvist) to give us our final of 7-0.

The Swedes, who were previously winless in the tournament are now in sixth place in Group A with a plus-five goal differential and three points. Switzerland stands in third place in the group with two wins and a minus-three goal differential. They have six points.

Tomorrow in games involving Devils, Belarus takes on Great Britain. Elsewhere, Russia and Denmark clash, the Germans take on Kazakhstan and Canada tries to finally record a win as they take on Norway.

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Slovaks, Czechs Win at WHC

The IIHF World Hockey Championship continued today with Marian Studenic and Slovakia upsetting Russia 3-1 and the Czech Republic edging by Yegor Sharangovich and Belarus 3-2 in OT.

In non-Devils related games, host Latvia blanked Italy 3-0 and the Germans handed the Canadians their third loss of the tournament 3-1.

The Slovakia-Russia game saw Studenic finish with three shots on goal in 12:42 of ice time.

In the game itself, the two teams played a clean and crisp first period with a minor penalty for each team appearing on the scoresheet.

Ten minutes into the second period, Milos Kelemen broke the deadlock and put Slovakia up 1-0. He got an assist from Milos Roman.

That lead would not last long though.

Twenty seconds after the Kelemen goal, Pavol Skalicky took a high sticking call and put the Russians on the power play.

Alexander Barabanov would capitalize. He scored at 11:06 from Sergei Tolchinski and Anton Slepyshev to tie things at one apiece taking us into the third frame.

The Slovaks would get an insurance (and the game-winning goal) from Martin Gernat on the power play.

Twelve minutes into the new period, Maxim Shalunov took a cross-checking minor. Gernat would find the back of the net at 13:19. Assists to Marek Hrivik and Peter Cehlarik.

Russia would pull goalie Alexander Samonov with a little more than two minutes to go in regulation, and Marek Daloga would score into the empty net. Cehlarik and Hrivik had the assists.

That win puts the Slovaks in first place in Group A with three wins, a plus-six goal differential and nine points.

And now it’s off to a Group A matchup at the Olympic Sports Centre in Riga as the Czech Republic took on Belarus 3-2 in overtime.

Sharangovich had a goal for a point off of one shot on goal over 16: 26 of ice time.

Once again, a scoreless first period that only featured a minor penalty to Belarus, gave way to a second period that took some time but got us warmed up.

Just 5:52 into the new frame, Sharangovich scored from Sergei Kostitsyn to break the seal and make it 1-0 Belarus.

But, less than four minutes later, at 9:44, the Czechs would even things up. Jan Kovar scored from Filip Hronek and Michal Moravcik to make it 1-1.

Then a power play would put the Czechs ahead. Kostitsyn took a slashing call at 12:07. At 13:03, Filip Zadina scored Hronek to give the Czechs the 2-1 lead heading into the second period.

It would take some nail biting for the Belarusians, but at 11:30 of the third, Vladislav Yeryomenko would be the hero to tie the game at two when he scored from Stanislav Lopachuk and Ilya Shinkevich.

And we were off to overtime once the horn sounded on the third period.

It would not, however, be a long OT period.

Just 1:23 in, Dominik Kubalik scored from Robin Hanzl and Simon Hrubec to give the Czechs th 3-2 victory.

Tomorrow is another big day at the WHC as Great Britain faces Denmark, the USA takes on Kazakhstan, the Swiss take on Sweden and Finland and Norway clash.