WM IA, Day 1: Koreans surprise, Hungary & Italy also win
by Derek O'Brien|28 APR 2024
photo: VANNA ANTONELLO
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The opening day of the IIHF World Championship Division I Group A in Bozano saw both of the teams that came down from the top flight have trouble with Asian teams, demonstrating just how much parity exists in the group. In the nightcap, the tournament host opened with a win to the delight of the crowd.

Korea 4 – Slovenia 2

For the first 15 minutes of this game, it looked like Slovenia was going to run the Koreans out of the rink. Slovene captain Robert Saboic opened the scoring early when he was allowed to go untouched to the front of the net and convert a pass from Blaz Tomazevic into the roof of the net.

But late in the first period, the Koreans pushed back. First they killed off a penalty and then Yuchan Kong exited the box, joined a 2-on-1 rush, and picked the far corner to tie the score. Just over a minute later with the Koreans pressing hard, Sanghoon Shin gave Korea the lead.

Jaka Sodja tied it for Slovenia early in the second and it remained tied well into the third period when the Koreans got a power play after the puck was shot out of play. With the man advantage, Chong Min Lee’s pass attempt hit a Slovenian stick and deflected past Matija Pintaric for the eventual game-winning goal with 11:43 to play.

The Slovenes pushed hard for the equalizer but that resulted in an odd-man rush the other way, which Sangyeob Kim buried with a slapper into the roof of the net to put an exclamation point on the win.

“We’ve got a lot of young players who are in their first tournament, so they were a little nervous to start but we just had to have confidence, follow the game plan and support each other,” said Korean captain Sangkook Kim. “Obviously, Slovenia’s got a good team and one of the favourites for this tournament, so we knew we had to skate … maybe skate all night and make them a little bit tired, and generate chances from that.”

“It was a cold shower,” said Sabolic. “We didn’t underestimate them. We know they’re a good team, a fast team. We knew this could happen and it happened. We’re kind of disappointed now but we’ve got to lift our heads up for the next game.”

Japan 1 – Hungary 3

Back in February, Japan went into Budapest for Olympic Qualifying and beat host Hungary 2-1. The Japanese didn’t win the second game but they very well could have, outshooting Hungary 31-19.

Balasz Varga scored the only goal of an evenly-played first period, finding a loose puck in front of Yuta Narisawa and firing it upstairs. The Japanese pushed hard for the equalizer in the middle frame but couldn’t break through. Their best chance came in the last minute of the period when Yu Sata got a shorthanded breakaway but was stopped by goaltender Bence Balisz, who was deservedly named Hungary’s best player of the game.

“We weren’t very happy with our second period,” said Hungarian coach Don MacAdam. “We really got off our game. We wanted to play disciplined and in a structured way. The first and third periods were fine, the second period not so much, but overall we’re very happy with the team play.”

Two minutes into the third period, Hungary got a little breathing room – to the delight of their many fans in attendance – when Istvan Terbocs’ shot from the high slot along the ice beat Narisawa through the legs. That goal became very important five minutes later when Japan struck on the power play – Teruto Nakajima’s pass attempt banking in off a Hungarian skate.

“I think I was just in the right place at the right time,” said Terbocs. “I was kinda mad not to get the pass in the one-time area but after that, I just got it and released it and I was pretty happy it went in. It was a quick motion so maybe the goalie was surprised.”

The victory was iced on an empty-net goal by Janos Hari – his second point of the game.

Romania 1 – Italy 6

Last year, the Italians were expected to advance to the top flight and failed but this year, in front of their home fans, they don’t want to leave anything to chance. They showed they mean business in the first game with a dominant performance against Romania. Anthony Salinitri led the offence with two goals and an assist.

The Italians held a wide edge in play throughout the first period but were frustrated by goaltender Zoltan Toke before finally breaking through in the late going. With three minutes to play in the opening frame, Alex Trivellato’s point shot was deflected in by Salinitri. Then in the dying seconds, Daniel Cantinacci put in the rebound after Salinitri’s shot.

“Myself and my linemates, we knew that if we kept doing the right things we would get more chances, and we did,” said Salinitri. “We were forechecking really hard, holding on to pucks, making plays, we stayed patient, went to the dirty areas and we were rewarded.”

Tamas Reszegh with a shorthanded breakaway goal got Romania on the board, but two more goals late in the middle frame made it 4-1, and then third-period goals by Michele Marchetti and Diego Kostner rounded out the scoring.

“The score tells it all,” said Romanian captain Roberto Gliga. “It wasn’t enough. We had a few good moments but too few of them. But we’ll try to get better and get the best out of ourselves in the next games.”

Everyone gets a day off on Monday and then get set for back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday's schedule includes Slovenia vs Romania, Hungary vs Korea and Italy vs Japan.