A busy schedule today and it started bright and early with two games at 12.15 my time. A lunch-time-game? Sounds a bit uncommon considering it is a Monday. But OK, I watched the scoreboard on the IIHF site. And a Twitter-buddy was actually at the Slovakia-Denmark game and fed us with nice updates.
[Slovakia-Denmark] 4-1. Scoring was started by the Danes, but before the end of the first period, Strumpel and Satan had scored for Slovakia, giving them a 2-1 advantage going into the second period. Second period started strong for the Slovaks as well. Satan had some cool scoring opportunities and managed to get himself in a fight as well. OK, that is not really surprising ;) The second period went without goals, but in the third the Slovakia scored two more (Zednik and Hossa!). I for one am glad they at least ended the tournament on a positive note! And I should mention that the Danes had a lot of PPs in the third too which the Slovaks effectively killed off.
[France-Norway] 2-5. Well, it was the longest of all long shots, but a France win and a USA loss were what the Swiss - one of my personal faves - needed to move on the Quarter Finals. So I was looking closely at the France game. With Norway having an alright but not perfect tournament I though perhaps the French would try to redeem themselves a bit before going home. But yeah, the long shot was too long and the Norwegians dealt with the French decisively and in the process clinched their own spot in the Quarter Finals. Well done guys!
[Russia-Finland] 2-3. Had to go all the way to SO. Neither team looked spectacular in the third period and frankly, the OT was a waste of time too. Finns dominated the SO, it feels like the Russians did not even try to score. I had expected to see a bit more from these guys. But according to the IIHF report, the first period was excellent for Russia, with lots of hitting by Artyukhin and good scoring opportunities, but of course I missed that one *sighs*
[Switzerland-USA] 5-3. Well blimey. The Swiss finally found their scoring mojo. If only France had done the same earlier and defeated Norway, then the Swiss would have made it to the Quarter Finals. But it was all a bit too late. It was however, a nice way to redeem themselves a bit and beating the States always looks good on a resumé ;) ... Team USA tried to fight back in the final period and my boy JVR scored a goal to make it a one-goal game. But in the final minutes the Swiss scored an empty-netter, winning this game with a cool 5-3.
[Canada-Sweden] 3-2. My choice for tonight. It was a nice game to watch, nice pace, cool rushes, good saves. Not a big score and not the most spectacular game ever, but it was quite alright. And I am happy because Canada won :)
[Germany-Czech Republic] 2-5. The Germans started this tournament so strongly, so this game is hardly one they will want to remember. I did not watch this game, so I hoped for some input from my German buddy Sven, but he was too mad to talk about this game. Guess that says it all really! The Czechs had a walk in the park, having a bit of a pre-Quarter Finals practice. Oh wait, Sven decided to help me out anyways: "Czechs were better and Germany took too many penalties. Germany also had a bit of bad luck: first Czech goal was an goal in own net by Krüger. Second one flipped from Holzer's leg into the goal and another one was blocked by Nicolai Goc and that was a perfect assist for Plekanec." Ah see, it was not all bad! And thanks for your input Sven!
I am ready for the Quarter Finals. You too?
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