Happy day 10 of the IIHF World Championships! With the round robin aspect of the tournament winding down, each and every single game is becoming more and more important. Day 10 saw 8 teams facing off against each other. Let’s recap the 4 games that took place on day 10.
The first game of the day saw Switzerland taking on Belarus. As the final score can tell, Switzerland dominated the game. The last placed Belarus squad found themselves in trouble as the 3-2 Swiss began dominating the game from the very beginning to the very end.
The first game in Group B action saw the Canadian squad taking on Italy. The Canadian squad were explosive in the first period. Less than 2 minutes into the game, Cole Perfetti opened the scoring for Canada and the Canadian squad did not stop there. Andrew Mangiapane scored his first of two of the game, and Troy Stecher and Adam Henrique each scored to give Canada, an early 4-0 lead heading into the second frame.
Despite Canada’s explosive first period, Italy did not back down. Angelo Miceli scored for Italy half-way through the third period to close the gap to 3. Despite Italy’s best efforts, the Canadian boys could not be stopped. Mangiapane plotted his second of the night and Maxime Comtois added another goal for Canada before the second period ended to make the Canadian lead, 6-1.
After a high-scoring first and second period, the third period was relatively uneventful. Brandon Pirri scored to make it 7-1 for Canada giving the Canadian squad, their third win of the tournament. Andrew Mangiapane had an explosive game for Canada picking up 2 goals and 2 assists for a 4-point game. Team Canada will be back in action on Tuesday when they face off against Finland for their final round-robin game.
The third game of the day saw Sweden taking on Slovakia in the final Group A game of the night. The battle between the third and fourth place spot in Group A standings saw the fourth placed team coming out on top. Sweden’s Isac Lundestrom, Victor Olofsson, and Marcus Sorensen all scored for Sweden to give them a 3-1 victory. After Peter Cehlarik scored in the first period for Slovakia, Sweden went on to score 3 unanswered goals to secure their 3-1 victory.
In the final game of the day, Finland took on Latvia. A relatively close game saw the two teams going back and forth. Saku Maenalanen scored for Finland to give the Finnish squad an early 1-0 lead. However, Martins Dzierkals scored his first of two to tie the game at 1. The game went on like this for much of the second period until Liro Pakarinen scored to give Latvia, a 2-1 lead heading into the third. Dzierkals scored late in the third period to force an overtime period. Anton Lundell eventually scored for Finland to secure a 3-2 victory for Finland.
Day 11 will see four games on the schedule. In Group A action, the Czech Republic will take on Denmark. In Group B action, the United States will take on Germany, and Norway will be taking on Kazakhstan in the final game of the day.
Be sure to come back to Unbenched Sports following each day of the IIHF Men’s World Championship to read the Riga Recaps and get all of the details about the previous day’s action in Latvia.
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