2017 IIHF Worlds: Day 12
The summary of the twelfth game day of the 2017 IIHF World Championship.The twelfth game day of the 2017 IIHF World Championship saw the final games of the preliminary phase being played and featured every Colorado Avalanche player participating at this year’s tournament with the exception of Andrei Mironov, who was left out of the Russian lineup for their group stage finale against the US.
Sweden – Slovakia 4:2 (2:0, 1:1, 1:1)
5. Nylander (Backstrom, J. Klingberg), 9. Ekman-Larsson (Everberg, Karlsson), 26. Everberg (Karlsson), 60. Karlsson – 25. Matousek (Skalicky, Zigo), 42. Kudrna (Cingel)
Sweden finished the preliminary phase with a win against the struggling Slovaks. The Swedes hoped that a win would propel them to a second-place finish in Group A, which ultimately didn’t happen. Although the score suggests a closer game, the Swedes dominated play and didn’t let the Slovaks in too many scoring chances. Gabriel Landeskog and Carl Soderberg both had several shots on goal, but both failed to record a point. Former Avs forward Dennis Everberg had a goal and an assist in the game and was named Sweden’s player of the game.
Belarus – Norway 4:3 (0:0, 2:1, 2:2)
27. Lisovets (Stefanovich), 38. Kulakov (Stas, Demkov), 55. Shinkevich (Kovyrshin, Stefanovich), 57. Lisovets (Pavlovich, Linglet) – 36. Sorvik (M. Olimb), 42. Reichenberg (Thoresen, Odegaard), 44. Holos (Martinsen)
Russia – USA 3:5 (1:0, 2:3, 0:2)
13. Gusev (Kiselevich), 28. Belov (Plotnikov, Andronov), 37. Gusev (Shipachyov, Dadonov) – 21. Hayes (Nelson, Keller), 33. Larkin (Nelson), 38. Hayes (Gaudreau, Bjugstad), 53. Lee (Gaudreau, Eichel), 60. Nelson (Larkin)
The US and Russia met in a head-to-head matchup for the top spot of Group A, with the Russians only needing one point to finish atop of Group A and the Americans being in danger of falling to third if they lost. One of the most entertaining games of the tournament full of lead changes saw Team USA scoring three goals in the second period en route to a 5:3 win. JT Compher had the lowest ice-time of any US player and didn’t get on the score sheet, while also failing to record a shot on goal. Andrei Mironov failed to crack Russia’s lineup for the game.
Czech Republic – Switzerland 1:3 (0:1, 1:1, 0:1)
35. Cervenka (Pastrnak, Sulak) – 2. Parplan (Diaz), 29. Suri (Kukan, Schlumpf), 53. Brunner (Richard, Marti)
Germany – Latvia 4:3 after SO (0:0, 2:1, 1:2, 0:0, 1:0)
32. Wolf (Ehrhoff, Reimer), 32. D. Seidenberg (Kink, Muller), 60. Schutz (Draisaitl), shootout-winning goal scored by Tiffels – 39. Skvorcovs (Sotnieks), 49. Sprukts (Indrasis, Sotnieks), 57. Dzerins (Balinskis, R. Bukarts)
Canada – Finland 5:2 (3:1, 1:1, 1:0)
3. Marner (Point, Matheson), 5. Parayko (Marner), 14. Marner (Scheifele, MacKinnon), 29. Point (Matheson), 41. Duchene (Couturier) – 4. Lajunen (Osala), 37. Ohtamaa (Honka, Kemppainen)
While the Canadians were set to win Group A, but the Finns could jump to second place provided they’d win the game. The game was fast-paced right from the get go, with three goals being scored in the opening five minutes of the first period. In the end, the Canadian offense proved too much to handle for the Finnish defense. Goalie Calvin Pickard made 18 saves for a SVS% of 0.9. Nathan MacKinnon extended his point streak with an assist on Canada’s third goal, while Matt Duchene finally got the monkey off his back, scoring a goal in the third period to record his first point at this year’s tournament. Finland’s Mikko Rantanen was held of the score sheet.
Stats of Avalanche players after the twelfth game day (GP, G, A, P):
1. Nathan MacKinnon 7 5 7 12
2. Tyson Barrie 3 2 5 7
3. Mikko Rantanen 7 2 5 7
4. Gabriel Landeskog 7 2 3 5
5. JT Compher 7 2 0 2
6. Carl Soderberg 7 0 1 1
6. Andrei Mironov 5 1 0 1
7. Matt Duchene 7 1 0 1
Calvin Pickard – 4 GP, 3 W, 1 L – 0.932 SVS%, 1.48 GAA, 1 SO
Michal Hezely, Slovakia, hezely@eurolanche.com
16/05/2017 - 23:00
