Despite improvement: Italy remains without a goal or a point

The Blue Team lost 0-8 to the heavily traded Czechs on Friday evening. It was not only the twelfth defeat in the twelfth World Cup game against the Eastern Europeans, but also the fifth goal-to-nil defeat at the tournament in Bratislava.

“We have to put the puck in front of the goal more often” Tournament debutant Tommaso Traversa Italy started with changed personnel: Marco De Fillippo Roia was allowed to start in goal for the second time from the start. Regular goalkeeper Andreas Bernard had to watch, as did the ailing Jan Pavlu. Striker Tommaso Traversa came into the squad for him for the first time. The HCP crack impressed with his unbridled commitment and was immediately voted the best player in the Italian team after the final siren. “I'm very happy to finally be able to take part, especially since it was a good game for us today. We have to get the puck in front of the goal more often, then we will definitely score in the decisive games against Norway and Austria,” said Traversa after the game.

After the first third, hopes were still high that the “Azzurri” would do as well as they did in their last meeting in 2014, when Jaromir Jagr scored the Czechs to a narrow 2-0 victory. As was the case then, Italy impressed again this time with a disciplined defensive performance and relieving counterattacks. Milan Gulas, who had already scored for HC Pilsen in the Champions League against HC Bozen this season, shot the Czech Republic into the lead in the 8th minute, but after that the Italians played courageously for a long time. Crazy goal conceded breaks the “Azzurri’s” neck Diego Kostner and Angelo Miceli even had the equalizer in the second third before a strange scene completely threw selection coach Clayton Beddoes' men off their feet: Radko Gudas simply pulled away from the halfway line in the 28th minute, a hill on the side Ice suddenly caused the puck to rise a few meters in front of the goal and it hit the Italians' box. The otherwise strong De Filippo Roia had a clear view.

A short time later, Ivan Deluca narrowly missed the goal. In return, Michael Frolik made it 3-0. The “Azzurri” didn’t back down afterwards either, but the Czech Republic now made ice-cold use of the available space and mercilessly increased the result. Washington crack Dmitrij Jaskin netted twice, and Jan Kovar, Dominik Simon and Frolik again scored to make it 8-0, which was far too high. At the end, the many Czech fans who had created a home game atmosphere in Bratislava, close to home, cheered. The first cellar duel awaits on Saturday After all: This may have been the last David versus Goliath duel for Armin Hofer and Co. at this World Cup. They will play the two remaining tournament games against their direct rivals for relegation Norway (Saturday, 16.15:20.15 p.m.) and Austria (Monday, XNUMX:XNUMX p.m.). Then goals and points are absolutely necessary for Italy.

Group B: Czech Republic – Italy 8:0 1:0 Milan Gulas (7.04), 2:0 Radko Gudas (27.09), 3:0 Michael Frolik (32.07), 4:0 Jan Kovar (33.43), 5:0 Dmitrij Jaskin (34.17), 6:0 Dominik Simon (56.02), 7:0 Dmitrij Jaskin (57.42), 8:0 Michael Frolik (57.58)

Pos Name Games Points 1. Russia 4 12 2. Switzerland 4 12 3. Czechia 5 12 4. Sweden 4 9 5. Latvia 4 6 6. Norway 5 3 7. Austria 5 0 8. Italy 5 0 Group a: Finland - Great Britain 5:0 1:0 Toni Rajala (20.24), 2:0 Atte Ohtamaa (25.08), 3:0 Joel Kiviranta (34.59), 4:0 Kristian Kuusela (57.27), 5:0 Mikko Lehtonen (59.49)

Pos Name Games Points 1. Finland 5 13 2. Germany 4 12 3. Canada 4 9 4. USA 4 8 5. Slovakia 5 6 6. Denmark 4 5 7. France 5 1 8. Great Britain 5 0

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Despite improvement: Italy remains without a goal or a point

The Italian national ice hockey team played their best ice hockey for half an hour at the World Cup in Slovakia. But it wasn't enough for a small sense of success against the Czech Republic. On the contrary: it set the stage for the next shooting festival.

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