Slovakia – Russia – 1:6 (0:1; 1:3; 0:2)
Cologne // Team USA leaders
In front of a crowd of 13.267 ice hockey-loving visitors who came to the LANXESS arena despite Mother's Day, both teams fought with great commitment and the referees knew how not to let the initial aggressiveness get too high. The spectators did not have to regret coming. The game went back and forth - in the 9th minute it was up to Clayton Keller, Tobias Rieder's teammate at the Arizona Coyotes, to give the Americans the lead with his fifth goal of the tournament. But the men of head coach Zdeno Ciger – a former world-class player from Slovakia – showed their qualities and put the US boys under a lot of pressure. But Jimmy Howard from the Detroit Red Wings in the US goal had something against it and so the USA went into the first break with a 1-0 lead.
Once again, the US team knew how to capitalize on the opportunities that presented themselves. Johnny Gaudreau from the Galgary Flames also scored his fifth goal here in Cologne in the 6th minute of the second period. In the 31st minute, the Slovaks scored the much celebrated goal - Martin Gernat had struck - 1:2. This goal released a lot of energy for the Eastern Europeans - they almost equalized. But less than six minutes later, Christian Dvorak shot the puck with his backhand into the left goal triangle. Two minutes later it was 4:1, Jakob Trouba had fired and the puck was back in the net.
Team USA began to work its magic: 5-1 by Gaudreau. In the 46th minute, Jack Eichel shot from a half-left position and caught goalie Julius Hudacek in the mask. NY Islander Anders Lee took advantage of a subsequent penalty to make it 6-1 - it was his fourth goal and also the final score, which put the USA at the top of Group A for at least one day, as Russia was not playing.
Nick Bjugstad: We played a better game than against Latvia. We had a few turnovers and we were able to convert a few chances into goals today. Many different players were able to get on the scoresheet. We needed a game like this right now to gain confidence for the match against the Russians. We will definitely be ready!”
Tore: 0:1 Keller; 0-2 Gaudreau; 1:2 (30:40) Gernat; 1:3 (36:04) Dvorak; 1:4 (38:01) Trouba; 1:5 (42:16) Gaudreau; 1:6 (47:23) Lee {PP}
Punish: 10 (SVK) : 8 (USA)
spectator: 13.267
Denmark – Sweden 2:4 (0:1; 0:2; 2:1)
Cologne // A Lundquist rarely comes alone
The second playoff round in the NHL is over and some eliminated players are already strengthening their World Cup squad. Not only Germany (Philip Grubauer, Leon Draisaitl) but also Sweden were able to add more NHL players to their team after being eliminated in the second round with Henrik Lundquist (New York Rangers) and Nicklas Bäckström (Washington Capitals).
His twin brother Henrik had barely arrived at the World Cup when things were already going well for the Lundquists. After 2:19 minutes, Joel sank the black disc into the Danes' metal box with a beautiful wrist shot for his first scorer point. He got the puck at the face-off point, took a quick look and finished with a hard, uncompromising shot - no chance for George Sörensen in the goal. The shooting statistics were 13:5 – a rather quiet start for Henrik Lundquist in the Swedish box.
Not much happened in the middle period. Whenever the Danes fired a dangerous shot or appeared in a promising position in front of Henrik Lundquist, he always had a suitable answer ready. From 32:46 onwards they had to make do with a 90:3 score for 5 seconds. When the penalties were over, William Nylander (Toronto Maple Leafs) took heart and scored his third goal in Cologne to make it 2:0. He circled his opponents like slalom poles and the rest was noticeable in the result. Then magic happened - a wonderful combination between the NHL duo Bäckström and Nylander. The latter increased the score to 3:0.
In the 47th minute, the Swedish NHL goalie showed why he is one of the best in his field. With a roll and a split, he cleared twice in front of Nikolaj Ehlers and Morten Madsen. But after 49:11 the time had come. Having just failed, Madsen gave “King Lundquist” (nickname in NY) no chance, only 3:1. In the 56th minute when the score was 3-2, he wasn't at fault either - in the 58th minute, the emerging hope was nipped in the bud when Bäckström scored his first goal in the first game and increased the score to 4-2. Jan Karlsson, head coach of Denmark, took his goalkeeper off the ice in favor of an additional attacker with 105 seconds left - but the score remained 4-2 for Sweden.
Elias Lindholm: “I do think that the reunion of Henrik and Joel Lundquist, as well as the arrival of Nicklas, paid off - Henk kept us in the game a few times, Joel scored his first goal, as did Nicklas - so a very clear one Matter!"
Tore: 0:1 (2:19) J. Lundquist; 0:2 (35:20) Nylander; 0:3 (39:06) Nylander; 1:3 (49:11) Madsen; 2:3 (55:17) M. Lauridsen; 2:4 (57:31) Bäckström
Punish: 4 (DEN) : 12 (SWE)
spectator: 10.314
Text: Ivo Jaschick