After being beat pretty bad on the opening day by Denmark and a day off Hungary was back on the ice against Kazakhstan.
Just like last year with Gergely Arany and Dániel Korankker, Glen Williamson was rotating his goalies. After Gergely Bors getting the start in the first game Bence Kiss was the number one keeper against Kazakhstan. Zsombor Garáth and Bálint Horváth were back in the lineup as well after missing the first game because injuries.
Hungary struck first when Horváth jumped on a loose puck in the slot and put it past Nikita Ustinovich for the lead. Less than a minute later with Hungary Garáth skated in across the blueline and put a shot on net, after the commotion Viktor Törok flipped the puck into the net for the quick 2-0 lead. Minutes later Kazakhstan got on the scoreboard after a scrum in front of the Hungarian net, in the end the puck ended up in the back of the net off of Maxim Smolyakov’s stick. Kazakhstan quickly tied it up when Dimitri Demyanov jumped on the loose puck and put it in the net to tie it at 2-2. Before the period was out Hungary had taken the lead back when Donát Szita skated through the attacking zone and threw it on net for the goal.
During the break Kazakhstan coach, Alexander Linyov decided to switch goalies and brought in Alexander Kutko in place of Ustinovich. Both teams had their scoring chances but it looked like the game had settled down. Just before the midway point of the game Zsombor Kiss gave Hungary a two goal lead, however this did not last long as 14 seconds later Kazakhstan were back within one.
Hungary held the one goal lead throughout the rest of the second period and five minutes into the third when Kazakhstan scored a powerplay goal to tie it up. The Kazakh offence really turned it on as they scored a total of three goals in under three minutes to turn the game around and take a 6-5 lead, Demyanov completing his hat trick. With time running out Glen Williamson pulled Kiss for the extra attacker and Bence Stipsicz scored a rocket of a goal with 61 seconds left to make it 6-5, which ended up being the final score.
Coaches Corner
Glen Williamson-”We were looking for our first win, we played pretty well but we made key mistakes and they capitalized on them. We didn't melt down, we didn't quit the team kept their focus but at this level when mistakes are made the opponent takes advantage of it. We will be prepared for the next game. We started believing ourselves and we were able to play under pressure today.”
Alexander Linyov-”I would first like to thank Hungary for this exciting game. This was a tight game from start to finish, it wasn't easy to hold on to the lead but in the end we managed to win”
View from the Ice
Zsombor Garát-”It was good to be back on the ice after missing the first game, it was great motivation and i was hungry. I think it was good game, we did not have any lack of confidence, we were in the game from start to finish, we kept up the pressure, unfortunately we came up short this time.”
Standings
Denmark 5 points
France 5 points
Bulgaria 3 points
Kazakhstan 3 points
Norway 2 points
Hungary 0 points
All other info about the world championships can be found here.
Roster
Goalies (2) Gergely BORS (Fehérvár Av19), Bence KISS (Miskolc)
Defencemen (7) Florián SÁNDOR, Dávid SZABÓ (Fehérvár AV19) Bence STIPSICZ, Gergely TÓTH (MAC Budapest) Dániel SZLAMA (Vasas) Zsombor GARÁTH (Boston Bandits, EHL) Ferenc SIMOTICS (Sparta Praha, CZE)
Forwards (15) Gábor BUGÁR, Antonino SARCIA (MAC Budapest) Máté GÁSPÁR, Martin SÁGI (Linz, AUT) Viktor TÖRÖK (Vasas) Bálint Horváth (Troja/Ljungby, SWE) Patrik KISS, Ákos NAGY, Andor PÉTER, Donát SZITA, Dániel VIZI (Fehérvár AV19) Zsombor KISS (Bern, SUI) Kevin SZABAD (Vienna Capitals, AUT)
Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Glen Williamson
Assistant coaches: Szabolcs Fodor, Péter Mayer, Rastislav Ondrejcik, Bence Svasznek
Photo: István Derencsényi