Slovakia has its sights set on the quarter-finals again at the Ice Hockey World Championships in the Czech Republic with a surprising win against co-favorites USA.
Slovakia, which had lost 4:6 against the German team at the start, beat the USA 5:4 (2:0, 2:1, 0:3, 1:0) after extra time and recorded their second success in the third game of Group B.
3rd group game day arrow right
In a heated duel with numerous physical confrontations, the Slovaks took a 2-0 lead with goals from Milos Kelemen (4th) and Libor Hudacek (12th) in the first third. Matt Boldy (25th) shortened the score, but Simon Nemec (28th) and Patrik Koch (29th) made it 4-1.
USA with just one win
US coach John Hynes then swapped NHL goalkeeper Alex Nedeljkovic for college goalie Trey Augustine. Shane Pinto (45th), Brady Tkachuk (54th) and Luke Hughes (57th) forced overtime. Kelemen (64th) made the decision.
The Americans, with the strongest World Cup squad in years, have only one win to their name so far – the 6-1 win against Germany. The USA lost 5-2 at the start against Sweden.
Norway without a chance
In Group A, Finland gave Norway no chance at 4:1 (2:0, 2:1, 0:0). The four-time world champion is on track with seven points from three games. Norway, on the other hand, is still waiting for its first World Cup point.
However, Switzerland remains at the top of the group. They celebrated a 2-1 win after a penalty shootout in front of more than 17,000 spectators in Prague against hosts the Czech Republic and now have eight points to their name. The Czech Republic is fourth with six points behind Finland and Canada.