China 3-Netherlands 0
The Chinese avenged a 7-2 loss to the Dutch a year ago by starting the 2024 Men’s World Championship I-B with a resounding 3-0 win. Shifeng Chen stopped all 28 shots to record the shutout and the offense was provided by three forwards—Mingju Zheng, Yuyang Hou, and Zesen Zhang.
A tentative and scoreless first period gave way to an early goal in the second by Hou. He made a quick dash down the left side, cut to the middle, and beat Ruud Leeuwesteijn with a quick shot at 4:12. The Chinese played with the lead in impressive fashion, giving the Dutch very little in the way of quality scoring chances.
They doubled their lead midway through the third on a power play. Captain Zimeng Chen thought he scored on a one-timer, but play continued and soon after Mingju Zheng scored from the side of the net to make it 2-0. Zesen Zhang completed the scoring with an empty netter.
Lithuania 3-Spain 0
Almost a carbon copy of the opening game, the hosts Lithuania posted a solid 3-0 win over Spain, the team that had earned promotion from Division II-A for this year. Mantas Armalis corralled all 23 shots for his shutout while his counterpart in the Spanish net, Raul Barbo, was considerably busy, facing 38 shots.
Again the first period was scoreless, and it wasn’t until early in the middle period that Tadas Kumeliauskas opened the scoring. He emerged from a scrum in the corner, came out front, and beat Barbo with a high shot to send the crowd of 2,516 into celebration mode.
Paulius Gintautas made it a 2-0 game late in the period after some really effective puck movement. In the end, Ugnius Cizas curled towards the goal line and then spotted Gintautas in front. Quick pass, quick re-direct, and it was 2-0 before the Spanish knew what had happened.
Laisvydas Kudrevicius added an insurance marker late in the third. The Spanish had a late power play of 5-on-4 and then 6-on-4 to try to get on the board, but the hosts were a perfect 4-for-4 shorthanded and deservedly won the game.
Ukraine 8-Estonia 0
Bogdan Dyachenko earned the third shutout of the day with the easiest of the blank sheets, facing only 16 shots from Estonia in an emphatic Ukraine victory. Andro Denyskin led the attack with two goals while Olexander Peresunko had a goal and two assists. Peresunko, named the team’s Best Player, also led all skaters with six shots and was a danger from start to finish.
Peresunko opened the scoring midway through the first when his long wrist shot snuck under the arm of Conrad Molder. The Ukrainians took control of the game early in the second, scoring three more goals in under four minutes to make it a 4-0 score and put the game out of reach. In the third, they added four goals for the easy win.
All teams are back in action tomorrow. China and Spain get things started, followed by Lithuania and Estonia. The day concludes with a Ukraine-Netherlands tilt.
The Chinese avenged a 7-2 loss to the Dutch a year ago by starting the 2024 Men’s World Championship I-B with a resounding 3-0 win. Shifeng Chen stopped all 28 shots to record the shutout and the offense was provided by three forwards—Mingju Zheng, Yuyang Hou, and Zesen Zhang.
A tentative and scoreless first period gave way to an early goal in the second by Hou. He made a quick dash down the left side, cut to the middle, and beat Ruud Leeuwesteijn with a quick shot at 4:12. The Chinese played with the lead in impressive fashion, giving the Dutch very little in the way of quality scoring chances.
They doubled their lead midway through the third on a power play. Captain Zimeng Chen thought he scored on a one-timer, but play continued and soon after Mingju Zheng scored from the side of the net to make it 2-0. Zesen Zhang completed the scoring with an empty netter.
Lithuania 3-Spain 0
Almost a carbon copy of the opening game, the hosts Lithuania posted a solid 3-0 win over Spain, the team that had earned promotion from Division II-A for this year. Mantas Armalis corralled all 23 shots for his shutout while his counterpart in the Spanish net, Raul Barbo, was considerably busy, facing 38 shots.
Again the first period was scoreless, and it wasn’t until early in the middle period that Tadas Kumeliauskas opened the scoring. He emerged from a scrum in the corner, came out front, and beat Barbo with a high shot to send the crowd of 2,516 into celebration mode.
Paulius Gintautas made it a 2-0 game late in the period after some really effective puck movement. In the end, Ugnius Cizas curled towards the goal line and then spotted Gintautas in front. Quick pass, quick re-direct, and it was 2-0 before the Spanish knew what had happened.
Laisvydas Kudrevicius added an insurance marker late in the third. The Spanish had a late power play of 5-on-4 and then 6-on-4 to try to get on the board, but the hosts were a perfect 4-for-4 shorthanded and deservedly won the game.
Ukraine 8-Estonia 0
Bogdan Dyachenko earned the third shutout of the day with the easiest of the blank sheets, facing only 16 shots from Estonia in an emphatic Ukraine victory. Andro Denyskin led the attack with two goals while Olexander Peresunko had a goal and two assists. Peresunko, named the team’s Best Player, also led all skaters with six shots and was a danger from start to finish.
Peresunko opened the scoring midway through the first when his long wrist shot snuck under the arm of Conrad Molder. The Ukrainians took control of the game early in the second, scoring three more goals in under four minutes to make it a 4-0 score and put the game out of reach. In the third, they added four goals for the easy win.
All teams are back in action tomorrow. China and Spain get things started, followed by Lithuania and Estonia. The day concludes with a Ukraine-Netherlands tilt.