With only two days remaining on the World Junior slate for Round-Robin play, eight of ten teams were in action on Tuesday, vying for spots in the Quarterfinals - or in some instances - the Semis.
Game 13, Russia vs Slovakia:
Russia and Slovakia has never developed into a huge rivalry since Czechoslovakia was split into two nations, but a blowout wasn't fully expected on Tuesday, which had Zdenko Kotvan making his first start for Slovakia, while Vadim Zhelobnyuk replaced Danila Alistratov in net for Russia.
Nikita Filatov has been one of - if not the top Russian forward at this tournament, and the Columbus prospect didn't disappoint against Slovakia, opening the scoring at 2:12, for his 3rd goal of the tournament. 1-0 Russians.
Adam Bezak didn't waste too much time tying things up, as his first of the tournament found netting behind Zhelobnyuk, from Milan Kytnar. 1-1 in the 1st.
One thing the Russians didn't want, was to be down, or tied heading into intermission, because it'd keep the Slovaks in the hockey game. With the game tied at one a piece, Maxim Goncharov made sure that didn't happen, scoring his 2nd of the tournament on the PP. 2-1 Russians after one.
Goncharov wasn't done yet, scoring another goal 1:05 into the 2nd, before Filatov's second of the game was scored 3 minutes later, on the Powerplay. Suddenly, the scoreboard read 4-1 in favour of Russia.
Four minutes later, it was Igor Golovkov celebrating a goal, his first of the tournament made the score read 5-1.
Filatov added another in the period for the Hat Trick, again a PP goal, and it was 6-1 after the middle frame.
Sergei Andronov and Sergei Korostin each scored minutes apart in the 3rd, widening the score to 8-1, which was the final.
GAME NOTES:
- Zhelobnyuk's first action of the tournament was full of good Slovakian chances, but he held them to a goal on 27 shots.
- Zdenko Kotvan didn't have as much success, and was pulled after Russia's 5th goal in the 2nd. Jaroslav Janus replaced him, and Janus gave up 3 goals on 11 shots.
- Maxim Goncharov had two goals for Russia, on 4 shots, while Sergei Andronov had a goal and 3 assists.
- Nikita Filatov had 4 points, 3 goals and a helper, and fired off 5 shots.
- Maxim Chudinov had 4 assists, but couldn't get away a shot.
- Alex Komaristy (2), Alexei Potapov (1), Evgeni Grachev (1), Vyacheslav Voinov (2) and Nikita Klyukin (1) had the rest of the Russian assists.
- Adam Bezak had the lone Slovakian goal, and Milan Kytnar had the single assist for his club. Juraj Valach, once a Vancouver Giant now playing in Europe, was -2.
Game 14, Czech Republic vs Germany:
In a game that would likely decide who would take the final Quarterfinal spot in Group A, the Czechs and Germans faced off at Scotiabank Place, both hoping for a clutch victory.
Timo Pielmeier started for Germany, while Dominik Furch got the nod for the Czechs.
If I were a betting man, I would've put my money on Germany who had strong showings against both the USA and Canada, but the Czechs were a goal away from tying the Americans, however Germany's netminders had been spectacular before this game, so as I said, I would've gone with Germany. Boy was I wrong.
The Czechs scored two PP goals in the first, one from David Stich and the other courtesy of Zdenek Okal. 2-0 after one.
Ondrej Roman scored his second of the tournament, and collected his second point of the night at 15:58 of the middle frame, from Jan Kana on an even-strength marker, his club's first of the game.
3-0 after two.
Now, Germany was penalized 5 times after two periods, and the Czechs only once. This would prove costly in the game.
In the 3rd, Tomas Knotek notched his first of the tournament past Pielmeier, for his club's 4th of the game. 4-0.
Radko Gudas wanted to get in on the action, so the defenceman scored his first of the tournament to make things 5-0.
Obviously the Czechs were pulling away, but Ondrej Roman put insult to injury, scoring his second goal in as many periods, 6-0 Czech Republic was your final.
GAME NOTES:
- Timo Pielmeier who had been near spectacular heading into the game, let in 6 goals on 53 shots, that's still pretty impressive numbers.
- His counterpart Furch, stopped all 18 shots that came his way.
- Three Czech D-Men had goals, while Ondrej Roman had a pair, and Zdenek Okal had the other one.
- Jan Kana, Milan Doczy and Tomas Kundratek each had two assists.
- Kana and Roman had 7 shots a piece, while Vladimir Ruzicka, Jan Piskacek, Roman Szturc and Tomas Kubalik were the only players on the winning side without a shot.
- Steven Rupprich had 12 PIM, and collected 5 shots, more than doubling five other players who had two shots.
Game 15, Finland vs Latvia:
Latvian fans have always come out in good numbers for this tournament, but have never had a great team to cheer for. This year fans were obviously hoping for a good result, but heading into this one, they were still winless.
They put their usual goaltender Nauris Enkuzens to face Juha Metsola of Finland, who had been the backup to this point.
Things didn't get off to a great start for Latvia, with Edgars Lipsbergs picking up a Tripping penalty 39 seconds into the hockey game.
It'd prove costly as just under a minute and a half later, Tomi Sallinen scored his first of the tournament, from Teemu Hartikainen and Jesse Jyrkkio. 1-0 Finland.
Nestori Lahde would add a goal of his own, from Niclas Lucenius and Antti Roppo, making the score 2-0.
Things would get interesting when Roppo took down Janis Straupe, and the Canadian referees awarded Straupe with a penalty shot. He missed, and things didn't bite Finland in the behind.
2-0 for the Finnish Faithful after one.
Mikael Granlund, who hasn't blossomed offensively in the tournament, scored his first two goals in Ottawa early on in the second, doubling the score, on a 2-man advantage PP, and another on a shot taken with 5 on 5 being the situation. 4-0 for Finland.
Roppo would add a goal to go along with his earlier assist, to extend the lead to 5 goals, at 10:34.
Roberts Jekimovs tried to make things interesting on a 5-3 chance for Latvia, scoring on a goal set-up by Janis Straupe, to lower the deficit to 4 goals.
That's as close as they'd get, however, with Finland coming on top 5-1.
GAME NOTES:
- Latvia's Enkuzens stopped 51 of 56 shots, a great stat if I do say so myself, but it's too bad his team couldn't muster up any offence.
- Juha Metsola blocked 17 of the 18 Latvian firearms, through 60 minutes of play.
- Jesse Jyrkkio and Teemu Hartikainen both had two assists, while Mikael Granlund had a pair of goals.
- Of Finland's 56 shots, Tomi Sallinen (a goal), Toni Rajala (no points), Mikael Granlund (two goals) and Jyri Niemi (no points) all had at least 7 shots. Sallinen, Rajala and Granlund all had 8 each. Combined, they accounted for 31 of 56 shots.
- Roberts Jekimovs had a goal and a team-high 6 shots, and Aldis Pizans had 5 shots as well, but those 11 of 18 couldn't lead their team to more than a goal against Finland.
Game 16, USA vs Kazakhstan:
After a 16-0 thrashing to Canada, Kazakhstan must not have expected to win this one, but making it close against the Americans would've at least been nice.
I'll hand this to them - they didn't allow a goal until 16:26 of the first period. That's really damn impressive.
It was the USA's Ian Cole who opened the scoring, from Kevin Shattenkirk and Jordan Schroeder on the Powerplay, before Aaron Palushaj scored 41 seconds later to open the gap to 2 goals. Matt Rust and Mike Hoeffel had assists on his first goal of the tournament.
Drayson Bowman scored his third goal for Team USA from Fairchild and O'Brien at 18:59, leaving the score at 3-0 after one.
Colin Wilson scored two goals off the bat, 19 seconds apart, for his 2nd and 3rd goals of the tournament, from James van Riemsdyk (twice), and Ian Cole and Jordan Schroeder each once, at 0:52 and 1:11 respectively. 5-0.
van Riemsdyk scored his 4th of the tourny from Shattenkirk and Cole 4 minutes later, on a Powerplay opportunity.
Danny Kristo scored a goal set up by Ryan McDonagh, less than 120 seconds after van Riemsdyk's goal, 7-0 now.
Aaron Palushaj's second of the game made things an 8-goal game, his was assisted by Fairchild and Blake Kessel.
Mike Hoeffel scored his first goal 10 minutes into the 3rd on a two-man advantage, and Jimmy Hayes made it a double-digit game with his first of the tourny from O'Brien and Shattenkirk.
Palushaj assisted Mitch Wahl's first for the US, and Matt Rust (who now has two goals within the last 5 seconds of the hockey game), scored with 5 seconds left from Palushaj and Eric Tangradi for his 3rd of the World Juniors. 12-0 was the score, as the USA shot 61 times, compared to Kazakhstan's 10.
GAME NOTES:
- Palushaj had two goals and two assists on 8 shots, while Colin Wilson had a pair of goals as well.
- Matt Rust and Mike Hoeffel each had a goal and an assist, compared to James van Riemsdyk and Ian Cole who had a goal and two assists.
- Jordan Schroeder had a pair of helpers, and Cade Fairchild did the same as did Jim O'Brien.
- Kevin Shattenkirk had 3 assists, and finished with a team-high +4 rating.
- Their goalie Thomas McCollum blocked all 10 shots he faced, while Andrei Yankov of Kazakhstan stopped 49 of 61.
- Yakov Vorobyov had 4 shots, almost half of what his team combined for in the end.
