VILNIUS – Slovenia won its fourth game, 2-1, against Japan, while Kazakhstan beat Australia 13-2 and Lithuania defeats Croatia, 7-2. The Slovenia vs. Kazakhstan clash on Friday will decide the tournament winner.

Japan vs. Slovenia 1-2 (0-1, 1-1, 0-0) Game sheet Photos

Slovenia had the better start and scored after six minutes. Jakob Milovanovic started down ice from his own zone and got the puck to Marcel Rodman who fed it to Andrej Hebar, who scored the 1-0 goal.

Japan came out stronger in the second period and after two Slovenes were sent to the penalty box, Aaron Keller scored from the blueline after a drop pass from Go Tanaka.
 
Japan continued to play on the power-play, but Ales Music had a breakaway and scored the a shorthanded goal.

The Japanese had a 20-9 shots advantage in the last two periods, but their forwards were harmless in front of Slovenia's net.

Japan head coach Mark Mahon pulled his goalie, however it didn't help his team generate any serious offensive threat. Slovenia missed the empty net twice, once the post made the save on a David Rodman shot.

After losing its key games against Kazakhstan and Slovenia, Japan is out of the race for promotion. “We had the best game of our tournament and if we would be more efficient in front of the net, it could maybe have been a win,” Mahon said.

Slovenia has won all four games and plays the last game against Kazakhstan, which will decide which of the teams will play at the 2010 World Championship.

“It was a tough battle because Japan is a very quick team but we are in the position we like to be,” said John Harrington.

“Kazakhstan is a good team with good talent, so it will be tough. But it’s what we wanted, to play for promotion in our last game against them.”

Both teams had coaching changes during the season and missed the Olympic qualification in February. Kazakhstan was ranked behind Norway and Denmark in Oslo. Slovenia was winless in Hanover against Germany, Austria and Japan, losing all games by just one goal.

“I had just a couple of days to get to know the team in Hanover, now there’s more familiarity between us,” Harrington describes the improvement. “We didn’t change much since, we just did it better. We’re mentally tougher to win such a close game.”

Lithuania vs. Croatia 7-2 (2-1, 1-0, 4-1) Game sheet Photos

For the host team Lithuania, the game against Croatia was one to remain in the medal race and to win at least bronze. “We owe our fans to show a great performance,” head coach Dmitrij Medvedev said after the last win on Tuesday.

No sooner said than done.

Having received a pass while escaping along the boards, Sarunas Kuliesius beat Croatia goalie Vanja Belic with his diagonal shot at 3:45.

Then, four minutes later, 17-year-old forward Dominik Kanaet scored a similar goal, from a similar position, with a similar shot, just on the other side of the rink. The MHC Martin, Slovakia, junior equalized for Croatia.

However, Lithuania proved to be the stronger team and regained the lead with Dalius Vaiciukevicius after a side pass from Kuliesius at 13:57. And after ten scoreless minutes into the middle stanza, Petras Nauseda extended lead with another shot from the right.

The three points came closer and at 42:50, the Lithuanians sealed the win with the fourth goal. Two passes around all sides of Belic’s goal were too much for the Croatian defence and Darius Lelenas finished the power play with the 4-1 goal. Ten minutes later, Donatas Kumeliauskas just hit the post on a breakaway but Lelenas scored his second goal just half-a-minute later.

Borna Rendulic’s 5-2 goal for Croatia and two more Lithuanian goals in the last minute were nice to watch, but didn’t change much. Croatia will need to beat Australia to remain in Division I, Lithuania plays Japan for bronze.


Sarunas Kuliesius (L) celebrates his 1-0 goal. Photo: Andrius Petrulevicius

Kazakhstan vs. Australia 13-2 (5-0, 2-0, 6-2) Game sheet Photos

Four numbers which said it all: 5-0, 28-0. The first one was the score and the second one the shots on goal in favour of Kazakhstan in the game against Australia. After 20 minutes of play, to be more precise.

Roman Savchenko made use of the first power play with a blueliner that slipped past the glove of Australia goalkeeper Matt Ezzy. Later, his teammates scored in every situation. With full strength, shorthanded. The game was decided after the first period. And Ezzy had to make room for backup Stuart Denman.

The rest of the game had the character of an exhibition game between teams from different leagues. But to the teams’ defence was to say that the game was of marginal importance for both. Due to the importance of the mutual games, Kazakhstan will have to beat Slovenia for promotion anyway and Australia would need to be successful against Croatia anyway to maintain in Division I.

It was a play and let play prior to the big games on Friday. A play which saw eight more Kazakh goals. Australia’s Mitchell Villani rebounded for the consolation goal in the third period and David Upton scored another Australian goal.

Both Vadim Krasnoslobotsev and Maxim Belyayev added three goals and one assist each to their stats.

Thanks to the win, Kazakhstan tops the standings after four games. However, it won’t matter at the end. Only the winner of the Slovenia-Kazakhstan game will be promoted.


A shot from Andrei Gavrilin, who scored a goal against Australia. Photo: Andrius Petrulevicius

MARTIN MERK