Both teams started the game relatively slowly with the first real opportunity for either team did not come until about five minutes left in the period when Ladislav Sikorcin came down the right wing and put the puck on the tape of Csaba Kovács who missed the net from close ranger. Two minutes later István Sofron passed the puck from the right slot across to the far post where Balázs Ladányi's shot was saved by the goalie, Odrobny.
The second period did not go the way the home side expected. Five minutes into the period Krysztof Zapala had a great chance to break the deadlock as Poland came down the ice on a two-on-one, Zapala tried to roof the shot but Zoltán Hetényi made an excellent save. Halfway through the period the Hungarians had an opportunity on the power play when Tamás Gröschl was posting up in front of the net and had a shot from point blank that Odrobny saved. The ice finally broke when Pawel Dronia took a pass from Marek Stryzowski in the slot, faked a shot and sent the defender sliding by as he tried to block the shot, he dragged the puck, waited for his chance and snipped it into the back of the cage.
The third period brought the excitement that one would expect in a close game. Five minutes into the period Csaba Kovács and Adam Baginski had a tussle at center ice where both of them looked heated. Throughout the period Hungary had some great chances but the Polish keeper played great. Dániel Kiss, Árpád Mihály and Sikorcin all had shots from the slot or closer but they were all kept out. With 1:33 left in the game coach Tamás Sille called time out and brought Hetényi off the ice for the extra attacker. Eight seconds later Mihály took a pass from János Vas and fired it on net that was saved but team captain István Bartalis put the rebound in to tie it up and send the game into overtime.
Mihály said after the game "we talked about it on the bench after the previous shift that they are giving me time, so I took the pass and put it on net and see what happens."
After five minutes of OT the goalies went toe to toe until the fourth shooter when Árpád Mihály scored with his patented move "I always go down on the right hand side and then on the short side I go high," Mihály said.
General Manager Balázs Kangyal did not watch the final shooter "out of superstition I never watch the deciding shot"
After the game the Polish coach was happy with the performance despite the loss. "It was an interesting game the Hungarians tried to play hard and were very smart," stated Igor Zakharkin. "We are satisfied with the result but we need to take better advantage of our chances."
There were three players that made their debuts with the national team, Tyler Metcalfe, Benjámin Nemes and Arnold Varga. Metcalfe said that it was nice to finally play for the Hungarian national team while Nemes said it was an honor to have the countries crest on the chest: "I was very nervous before the game but luckily the first shift was very early in the game, once I hit the ice I felt comfortable".
Ukraine thumped Romania
The first match of the day was between a strong Ukrainian side and a young Romanian one.
Not that surprisingly Ukraine won 6-1, they jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Yevgeniy Belukhin and Shamil Romaznov. Roman Blagoy had a PPG in the first minute of the second period, the young Romanians made it onto the scoreboard when Csanád Fodor put a shot on net and Roberto Gliga put in the rebound. Ukraine put the puck past Gellért Ruczuj three more times, Volodymyr Aleksyuk, Sergei Varlamov and Oleksandr Materukhin were the goal scorers.
"It was a good game," said Andrei Nazarov, Ukraine's coach. "We played against a physical team, had three goals on the PP, it was a good game."
On the other bench everyone agreed that the team played hard. Kjell G. Lindqvist said after the game "the guys worked hard and played good, we have a very young team, basically a junior squad". Assistant coach Josh Bonar who was making his coaching debut at the senior level reaffirmed this "we are building for the future with this tournament". He also said that they have to play together and get better.
Szabolcs Závodszky
@Zavodszky
Photo: László Mudra