SAPPORO, Japan – Croatia's Michael Novak become the shoot-out hero when his team surprisingly beat Estonia. Ukraine had an easy 6-1 win, while Hungary handed host Japan its first loss.

Hungary – Japan 4-2 (0-0, 3-1, 1-1)

The 4-2 Hungarian win against Japan likely sets up a direct Hungary vs. Ukraine deciding game for the promotion to the top pool for 2009. The teams face-off in the last game on Saturday.

After a scoreless first period, the Hungarians struck with three unanswered goals between 26:45 and 33:50. Balazs Ladanyi scored his third goal of the tournament to give his team the lead. It was the first goal Japan conceded in the championship.

Kristian Palkovics added the 2-0 tally just 61 seconds later and the host team faced a huge uphill battle when Gabor Ocskay scored a shorthanded goal a few minutes later.

Sho Sato cut the deficit to two with his marker at 37:37 and Masahito Nishiwaki made it exciting again six minutes into the third when he got Japan within one.

Japan had 29 shots on goalie Levente Szuper in the last two periods, but there would be no equalizer. Palkovics netted his second of the game (and his fourth of the tournament) with 35 seconds remaining – an empty net goal after Masahito Haruna was pulled for a sixth attacker.

Japan outshot Hungary 38-33 but Szuper was excellent. The Japanese can still hope for promotion but for this to happen they need to beat Ukraine on Friday and Estonia on Saturday while hoping for an Ukraine win vs. Hungary.

This scenario would get Ukraine, Hungary and Japan on 12 points and head-to-head goals differential (just from the three games between those teams) would decide.


The Hungarians were celebrating a goal in front of the Japanese bench. Photo: Seinosuke Uchigasaki

Ukraine – Lithuania 6-1 (4-0, 1-1, 1-0)

Ukraine sealed another three points with a win against Lithuania. Despite  being outshot 10-13, the Ukrainians won the first period 4-0.

Vadym Shakhraychuk opened the scoring after just 47 seconds. As the Lithuanians didn’t make use of their chances in power play, Kostiantyn Kasianchuk increased the lead at 8:15. Andriy Sryubko connected on the first Ukrainian power play after only 18 seconds, at 10:43. Oleksandr Materukhin’s penalty shot goal at 16:01 was too much for the frustrated Lithuanians, who have three consecutive losses with a negative goal differential of 1-17.

The Ukrainians had things in control for the rest of the game. Two more goals for the winners came courtesy of Sergii Klymentiev and Roman Salnikov. Tadas Kumeliauskas scored the consolation goal for Lithuania.

Ukraine’s World Championship veteran goalie Igor Karpenko had 28 saves, while Lithuania netminder Arturas Kuzmicius had 26 saves on 32 shots.

The Ukrainians, who were relegated from the top division last year, are perfect after three games and prior to their most important ones, against host Japan on Friday and vs. Hungary on Saturday.


Oleksandr Materukhin score the 4-0 goal with his penalty shot. Photo: Seinosuke Uchigasaki

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Croatia – Estonia 2-1 (0-1, 1-0, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0)

A defining moment for Croatian ice hockey. Their national team, which is good in division II, but very seldom competitive on the division I level, defeated Estonia in a shootout. Michael Novak scored the winning shootout goal when he perfectly executed the shot past goalie Aleksei Terentjev. Croatia did not score a goal in their first two games of the championship, losing 4-0 to Ukraine on opening day and 3-0 to Japan on Monday. Estonia is still winless after loses to Hungary (5-3) and Ukraine (3-1).

Croatia was promoted to the division I for this season after winning division II on home ice last year. Estonia has been a mainstay in division I for several years.

Regulation time ended with a 1-1 draw. Ilja Urushev gave Estonia the lead with a power-play goal at 13.30, but Croatia got even with 59 seconds left of the second period when Marko Lovrencic scored. Also this was a power-play goal. Vanja Bilic was excellent in the Croatian net, stopping 33 shots.

With the loss, Estonia is in a relegation danger zone. A key game against neighbour Lithuania is coming up on Friday. Lithuania is also winless, at least prior to the game vs. Ukraine on Wednesday.


Croatian goaltender Vanja Belic makes a key save against Estonia. Photo: Seinosuke Uchigasaki

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IIHF Staff