After two days of action at the 2024 IIHF World Championship Division I Group A in Bolzano, Hungary is the lone team that remains perfect, while a bunch of teams remain in contention for the two promotion spots.

Slovenia 6 – Romania 1

After dropping their opener, the Slovenes found themselves in an uncomfortable spot by falling behind early in their second game. Alpar Sallo’s shot from the point was deflected in front by Albert Zagidullin at 3:40, and Romania had its first lead of the tournament. Slovenia pushed hard to get that one back but the Romanian defence and goaltender Attila Adorjan did a good job of holding the attack at bay until a long shot through a crowd by Rozle Bohinc found the net at 15:43.

 

“We didn’t have the best start but it was just one bounce and we were 1-0 behind, but we regrouped well, played our game and it got easier and easier for us,” said Slovenian defender Matic Podlipnik. “We had some meetings after the game against Korea and today we showed that we can come back after a really short time.”

“We definitely had a better start,” said Sallo, comparing it to Sunday’s debut against Italy. “We had a solid 10, 15 minutes but then we just started to make too many mistakes, too many turnovers, too many bad choices. Then a team like Slovenia will handle those situations and score on us.”

After a less-than-stellar opening period, the Slovenes went to work right from the start of the second. In the first minute of the frame, Robert Sabolic forced a turnover in his own zone and led a 3-on-2 rush, where he set up the trailer Rok Ticar for a slapper that beat Adorjan over the glove.Romania kept the Slovenian attack at bay for a while longer but two goals 1:12 apart late in the period – Matic Torok on the power play and Marcel Mahkovec at even strength – made it 4-1 after 40 minutes. With the game now under Slovenia’s control, Mahovec and Ticar each added their second goals of the game in the third period to round out the scoring.

Hungary 6 – Korea 2

In a matchup between two teams that won their openers, Korea was the team with the better start but eventually Hungary took over the game and won handily.

“We knew they were going to be the same type of team as Japan, so we prepared the same way as last game,” said Hungarian defender Balasz Varga. “They had a big win against Slovenia, so we had to play really hard against them.”
 

It took just 86 seconds for Korea to strike first, with Sanghoon Shin circling the net and feeding Young Jun Lee for the tap-in. Hungary had a golden chance to tie it when Jin Kyu Park was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for a check to the head at the six-minute mark, but the Koreans were able to kill it off.

“We had good momentum from the last game and it carried over into the start of this one,” said Korean captain Sangwook Kim. “We got the early goal and then a good penalty kill. If we’d made it to the end of the period, with the lead, it might have gone different, but they’re a really good team and they changed the momentum.”

The Hungarians tied it at 13:34 when Kristof Papp found captain Csanad Erdely for the one-timer, and then took the lead a few minutes later when Istvan Sofron made a nice move to beat a defender, then fired a shot over the glove of Jung Ho Ha.

“It was really important for us that we went into the dressing room with the lead, and then we just came out stronger in the second,” said Varga.

In the second period, Hungary took over the game. Bence Stipsicz with a shot through a crowd on the power play made it 3-1 and then goals 36 seconds apart by Balasz Sebok and Akos Mihaly made it 5-1 before the game had reached its midpoint. Korea made a goaltending change, inserting Yeonseung Lee, but Erdely added his second of the game a short time later to make it 6-1.

With the game essentially decided, Shin scored on a rebound for Korea in the third period to make the final score a bit more respectable.

Italy 4 – Japan 3 (OT)

After a scoreless first period, Italy took a 2-0 lead in the first half of the second before Japan battled back to tie it in the last half of the period.

With the Italians pressuring hard early in the middle frame, Yuta Narisawa was forced to make a couple of saves but was sprawled out of position as Dustin James Gazley backhanded the loose puck overtop of him. Then just shy of the game’s midpoint, Italy scored again off the rush. Narisawa made a toe save as Tommisso de Luca tried to make a move on him, but Diego Kostner buried the rebound before the goalie could cover it.
 

Less than two minutes after Kostner’s goal, Yu Sato got Japan on the board when he went to the front of the net and converted Teruto Nakajima’s pass from behind the net. Then Kohei Sato tied it, showing strength to get a shot off despite being hooked and beating Damian Clara five-hole.

With 7:05 to play in the third period, Koki Yoneyama scored on a knuckle-puck from the point to give Japan the lead but Thomas Larkin beat Narisawa to the blocker side off the rush with just 3:41 to play. On a late power play, Italy pushed desperately for the go-ahead goal but Narisawa held the fort, forcing overtime.

 

“It was a hard game and we wanted to win really badly but it’s very important that we keep playing together,” said Yoneyama. “We worked hard to get back into the game but we have to play from the beginning next game.”

In overtime, however, it took Italy just five seconds to win it, with Luca Frigo netting the winner.
 

“They’re a very fast team and we checked them pretty well,” said Frigo. “We tied the game off a goal by our captain, which was huge, and then we got the win in overtime. We took advantage of a mistake by their centre and we ended up scoring and winning the game.”

On Wednesday, still-perfect Hungary opens against still-winless Romania. After that is an all-Asian encounter between Korea and Japan, with Italy hosting Slovenia in the nightcap.