After a disappointing start with two losses Slovenia gave a sign of life with a 4-1 victory against host Hungary in the World Championship Division I Group A.
After three rounds of games the teams are now split between three with six points and a 2-1 record including Kazakhstan, Italy and Great Britain; and three teams with three points: Slovenia, Poland and Hungary.
For Slovenia it was a must-win in a game they outshot the hosts 47-33. Especially in the first period the Slovenes came out strong and wanted to forget about the difficult start they had here in Budapest.
“We had a little meeting after the first two games. We knew it’s not alright. We knew we complicated things for ourselves. We discussed a couple of things. We showed today that we’re still here and we want to win every game. I think we were the better team and wanted it more and it was well deserved. Everybody worked hard,” Slovenian captain Jan Urbas said.
“I think energy-wise and going to the net we improved the most. We put so many pucks to the net. The puck is bouncing so you can’t make nice plays. You have to play hard and strong in front of the net and score dirty goals.”
Since 2010 Slovenia won each Division I tournament to get back to the top division and also beat Hungary on the way to success. In men’s World Championship play Slovenia has won all eight encounters since the first one, a 14-2 win in 1993 on home ice in Ljubljana. The last time Hungary won a World Championship game against Slovenian players was in 1982, a 5-4 victory in the C-Pool against Yugoslavia. The streak continued to nine wins for Slovenia.
“You could see that their players were desperate and turned it in a good feeling and way for them. Slovenia started the game very strong. We had our chances to score more goals than one but we never made it,” Hungary head coach Jarmo Tolvanen said.
Before the game there was a minute of silence to remember Slovenia’s former national team player Cveto Pretnar, who passed away. Afterwards the Slovenes converted their anger from the past days to high pressure on the Hungarian net where Adam Vay was kept busy with a whopping 24 shots in the first period. Once the Slovenes scored and made it a 1-0 first-period lead thanks to Aleksandar Magovac’s goal.
“They put all energy on ice they have. We didn’t have the luck in the last two games and also not so much today but we won. Now it’s game by game, day by day, I don’t look anymore. But also from this game we still have things to learn. It’s not perfect yet. There are things we need to make better like puck control and risk taking,” Slovenia head coach Kari Savolainen said.
“In these kind of games, the simpler things you ask the players to do, the better. They are stressed so if you ask for complicated tactics it will make them more stressed.”
The Hungarian defence had Slovenia better under control in the middle frame and the team converted its first power play of the period. Balazs Sebok got the puck in the neutral zone, battled his way between Luka Vidmar and Ales Kranjc to beat Gasper Kroselj for the 1-1 tie after 25 minutes.
However, the Slovenes used one of the few good goal opportunities in the period just four minutes later to claim the back lead. Miha Verlic got the puck behind the net and via Bostjan Golicic it came to Jan Urbas, who scored for Slovenia. Later in the period the post saved the Hungarian from being back with a two-goal margin.
Hungary had several good chances in the third period including a post shot from Janos Hari. But then it was the Slovenes who used a blackout to score. Anze Kuralt took Balint Magosi the puck away in a battle in the neutral zone and passed it to Golicic, who made it 3-1 with less than five minutes to play.
Sabahudin Kovacevic sealed the win with over three minutes left when we scored an empty-net marker from the goal line of his own zone for the final score of 4-1.
Host Hungary will have a must-win game tomorrow at 19:00 against Poland to keep chances for promotion alive. Slovenia will after a day off play Kazakhstan on Friday afternoon.
MARTIN MERK
After three rounds of games the teams are now split between three with six points and a 2-1 record including Kazakhstan, Italy and Great Britain; and three teams with three points: Slovenia, Poland and Hungary.
For Slovenia it was a must-win in a game they outshot the hosts 47-33. Especially in the first period the Slovenes came out strong and wanted to forget about the difficult start they had here in Budapest.
“We had a little meeting after the first two games. We knew it’s not alright. We knew we complicated things for ourselves. We discussed a couple of things. We showed today that we’re still here and we want to win every game. I think we were the better team and wanted it more and it was well deserved. Everybody worked hard,” Slovenian captain Jan Urbas said.
“I think energy-wise and going to the net we improved the most. We put so many pucks to the net. The puck is bouncing so you can’t make nice plays. You have to play hard and strong in front of the net and score dirty goals.”
Since 2010 Slovenia won each Division I tournament to get back to the top division and also beat Hungary on the way to success. In men’s World Championship play Slovenia has won all eight encounters since the first one, a 14-2 win in 1993 on home ice in Ljubljana. The last time Hungary won a World Championship game against Slovenian players was in 1982, a 5-4 victory in the C-Pool against Yugoslavia. The streak continued to nine wins for Slovenia.
“You could see that their players were desperate and turned it in a good feeling and way for them. Slovenia started the game very strong. We had our chances to score more goals than one but we never made it,” Hungary head coach Jarmo Tolvanen said.
Before the game there was a minute of silence to remember Slovenia’s former national team player Cveto Pretnar, who passed away. Afterwards the Slovenes converted their anger from the past days to high pressure on the Hungarian net where Adam Vay was kept busy with a whopping 24 shots in the first period. Once the Slovenes scored and made it a 1-0 first-period lead thanks to Aleksandar Magovac’s goal.
“They put all energy on ice they have. We didn’t have the luck in the last two games and also not so much today but we won. Now it’s game by game, day by day, I don’t look anymore. But also from this game we still have things to learn. It’s not perfect yet. There are things we need to make better like puck control and risk taking,” Slovenia head coach Kari Savolainen said.
“In these kind of games, the simpler things you ask the players to do, the better. They are stressed so if you ask for complicated tactics it will make them more stressed.”
The Hungarian defence had Slovenia better under control in the middle frame and the team converted its first power play of the period. Balazs Sebok got the puck in the neutral zone, battled his way between Luka Vidmar and Ales Kranjc to beat Gasper Kroselj for the 1-1 tie after 25 minutes.
However, the Slovenes used one of the few good goal opportunities in the period just four minutes later to claim the back lead. Miha Verlic got the puck behind the net and via Bostjan Golicic it came to Jan Urbas, who scored for Slovenia. Later in the period the post saved the Hungarian from being back with a two-goal margin.
Hungary had several good chances in the third period including a post shot from Janos Hari. But then it was the Slovenes who used a blackout to score. Anze Kuralt took Balint Magosi the puck away in a battle in the neutral zone and passed it to Golicic, who made it 3-1 with less than five minutes to play.
Sabahudin Kovacevic sealed the win with over three minutes left when we scored an empty-net marker from the goal line of his own zone for the final score of 4-1.
Host Hungary will have a must-win game tomorrow at 19:00 against Poland to keep chances for promotion alive. Slovenia will after a day off play Kazakhstan on Friday afternoon.
MARTIN MERK