Double digits: Kazakhstan outclasses Italy

Coach Giorgio De Bettin had expressly warned against the Kazakhs before the game and gave them the role of favorites. Not without reason, as the promoted team caused a stir with their victories against Germany, Latvia and world champion Finland during the tournament. The team, full of dual nationals, confirmed this strong impression on Saturday and also defeated Italy, who completely collapsed in the final third, with a score of 11:3.

From De Bettin's team's point of view, the game couldn't have started worse: the Azzurri appeared sleepy, gave their opponents far too much freedom - and also acted without discipline. When Stefano Giliati, who attracted negative attention several times, was sitting in the cooler, Roman Starchenko, staged by Curtis Valk, took advantage of the Blue Team's insufficient spatial distribution and put his team in the lead. Just 132 seconds had passed at this point. The spectators in front of the screens initially waited in vain for a reaction from Italy. It was only when Kazakhstan conceded penalties that the Blue Team gradually found their way into the game. Great opportunities, such as those from Daniel Frank, who was caught twice by Kazakhstan goalie Nikita Boyarkin, were few and far between. Some large spaces opened up in front of the Azzurri, but Anthony Bardaro & Co. knew very little what to do with them. Miceli equalizes With the conscience that points were possible against this opponent, the Azzurri nevertheless played courageously forward and were rewarded with the equalizer shortly after the restart: Kazakhstan failed to break free in the 25th minute. The puck came to Alex Petan in the slot, whose backhand finish first landed on Angelo Miceli's blade and after a nice movement in the Kazakh goal. Now Italy was finally in the game and for a short time even the better team. Just a few moments after the 1-1 score, Daniel Glira missed his big chance to take the lead. This took revenge, as the Kazakhs didn't need to be asked twice and set the course for victory with a double strike: First, Yegor Pethukov made it 2-1 with a beautifully executed combination, before Yevgeni Rymarev surprised Justin Fazio with a pinpoint shot from a tight angle - It was 3:1 after 40 minutes.

The Azzurri experienced a pitch-black day. © HHOF-IIHF Images

The preliminary decision was made when the eye-catching Nikita Mikhailis made it 42-4 in the 1nd minute, again in the power play. Peter Hochkofler shortened the score with a follow-up shot just twelve seconds later, but as a result all the dams broke: Valk and two remarkable goals from Artyom Likhotnikov raised the score to 7:2. After these goals, Fazio gave up his post and Davide Fadani, who was only 20, took his place. He saw how Alex Petan reduced the deficit again, but also how Panyukov restored the 5-goal gap a short time later. The final points in an inexplicable final third came from Starchenko, Victor Svedberg and Yegor Shalapov, who made the double-digit final result perfect.

>>> You can read the entire game here

It is important for Italy to quickly forget this disgrace. Already on Sunday (15.15:XNUMX p.m. live in SportNews -Ticker), the duel against Canada is on the program. Italy – Kazakhstan 3:11 Italy: Fazio (Fadani); Trivellato-Pietroniro, Spornberger-Glira, Casetti-Miglioranzi, Marchetti-Gios; Frank-Petan-Miceli, Frigo-Bardaro-Gander, Giliati-Andergassen-Hochkofler, Deluca-Pitschieler-Magnabosco Coach: De Bettin

Kazakhstan: Boyarkin (Shutov); Dietz-Maklyukov, Blacker-Svedberg, Stepanenko-Shalapov, Pethukov-Asetsov; Shevchenko-Sagadeyev-Akolzin, Starchenko-Valk-Mikhailis, Rymarev-Shestakov-Shin, Savitsky-Likhotnikov-Panyukov Coach: Mikhailis

Gates: 0:1 Starchenko (2.12), 1:1 Miceli (24.37), 1:2 Petukhov (32.31), 1:3 Rymarev (34.59), 1:4 Mikhailis (41.31), 2:4 Hochkofler (41.43), 2: 5 Valk (46.12), 2:6 Likhotnikov (47.01), 2:7 Likhotnikov (49.46), 3:7 Petan (50.59), 3:8 Panyukov (54.38), 3:9 Starchenko (56.07), 3:10 Svedberg (57.44), 3:11 Shalapov (59.52)

The table: Pos Country Games Points 1. Finland 5 13 2. USA 5 12 3. Kazakhstan 6 10 4. Germany 5 9 5. Latvia 5 8 6. Canada 5 6 7. Norway 6 5 8. Italy 5 0

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Double digits: Kazakhstan outclasses Italy

Despite a decent performance for over 40 minutes, Italy not only suffered its fifth defeat in a row at the Ice Hockey World Championships in Latvia on Saturday afternoon, but also experienced an unparalleled debacle.

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