Hosts Slovenia remains the only team with the perfect record after Day 3 of the 2024 Ice Hockey U20 World Championship, Division 1B in Bled, Slovenia. They are closely followed by undefeated Ukraine who overcame Italy after overtime. Following two heavy defeats, Croatia grabs a shootout win against Poland.

The penultimate day of the tournament gets underway on Friday with Poland taking on Estonia, Ukraine tangling with Croatia while Italy goes head to head with Slovenia.
 

CROATIA 5, POLAND 4 (SO)

Trailing 2-4 and with time running out, Croatia appeared dead and buried against Poland.

But with goalie Teo Janjatovic Loncar lifted in favour of the extra skater, Roko Gorsic rekindled Croatian hopes when pulling one back with 1:30 left of the third period. 45 seconds later Bruno Idzan raced away from the Polish rearguard to convert the game-tying goal. 

Idzan and Luka Bodiroga then converted their penalty shots as newly promoted Croatia picked up their first couple of points in the tournament.

Three games into the competition, Poland is still seeking its first win. They could have won it right at the death when Adrian Gromadzki muscled himself toward the Croatian net with three seconds left of regular time forcing a fine save from Janjatovic Loncar.

Szymon Kucharski tallied a brace and an assist for Poland. Mateusz Siekierka recorded his second goal of the tournament. Oliwier Kurnicki also converted. Poland´s sole goal in the shoot-out drama was netted by Piotr Ciepielewski.

SLOVENIA 5, ESTONIA 2

Outshooting their Baltic opponents 43-17, Slovenia raced into a 4-0 lead after 36:42 and never relinquished their superiority.

With five different scorers spread across three periods, the hosts extend their perfect record to three straight victories.

Lovro Kumanovic and Anze Zezelj put Slovenia in control with first-period goals. With Estonia sitting out four minor penalties in the middle frame, Slovenia cashed in twice with Filip Sitar and Tjas Lesnicar netting. A Miha Bericic empty netter with 35 seconds left to play then closed the scoring.

Zezelj has scored in all of Slovenia´s three wins so far in his U20 debut. Only six players remain from last season´s team as new head coach Mitja Sivic targets a straight return to Division 1A.

Estonia slipped to a third defeat. Cristopher Rembetti got his first start in the net and the 18-year-old recorded 38 saves.

Captain Erik Potsinok found his twin brother Marek with 30 seconds left of the middle frame to get Estonia off the mark. Jegor Proskurin mustered a late consolation for Estonia with 2:20 left of the encounter.

UKRAINE 5, ITALY 4 (OT)

Hat-trick hero Mykyta Sydorenko sparked Ukraine to overtime victory against Italy to remain undefeated in the tournament.

Ukraine roared back from a 4-1 deficit to make it 4-4. Sydorenko was the main instigator scoring twice with one being on a penalty shot. The Donetsk-born forward then capped a memorable night by scoring the overtime winner at 61.48.

Sydorenko is one of only four players on the Ukraine roster representing a domestic club team. Incidentally, all of Ukraine´s four goals scored against Italy came from players representing the same club, Dnipro Kherson. Illia Kryklia tied the game at one and Serhi Stetsiura scored a vital shorthanded 4-4 goal with 4:14 left of the third period.

Winning the shots 36-22, powerplay goals by Alessandro Segafredo and Alan Lobis had seen Italy go in front 2-1. Lobis then hit a magnificent pin-point pass from Italy´s defensive zone for Tommaso Madaschi to burst through against Hlib Artsatbanov and score the 3-1 goal at 23:45.

Josef Prast stretched Italy´s lead to three goals at 25:15 with a combination of individual skill and passive Ukrainian rearguard. Artsatbanov was soon after replaced in Ukraine´s net by Andri Malykhin as their fightback got underway.