Poland did everything expected of it in Friday’s only Division IB game, easing to a 10-2 victory over Serbia in Tychy. A third straight win for Robert Kalaber’s team means the host nation’s destiny is in its own hands here: beat Japan on Sunday and the Polish Eagle will fly back into Division IA.

Filip Komorski (3+2), Krystian Dziubinski (3+0) and Alan Lyszczarczyk (1+6) led the scoring as Serbia suffered another heavy loss. Two goals from Mirko Djumic offered some consolation to the outsider as it got on the scoreboard for the first time in this tournament.

Lyszczarczyk and Komorski are team-mates in Czechia, where they signed for Ocelari Trinec at the start of this season. Both of them have played much of the campaign on loan at Frydek-Mystek and Lyszczarczyk, the younger of the two, felt that they reaped the rewards of that shared experience tonight.

"I have a good chemistry with Filip," the 24-year-old said. "That helps me out playing on the Polish team because we play together for our club as well. That makes it easier for me in this game."

Poland made one change, resting goaltender John Murray and giving David Zabolotny his first action of the tournament. The German-born 28-year-old learned his hockey at Opole and was part of the Cracowia team that won this year’s IIHF Continental Cup. Tonight was his first time on the ice for Poland’s senior national team, having previously made the country’s extended roster before the pandemic.

Serbia, too, had one change. Forward Milos Pusac, who featured on the first line in the opening two games, was scratched.

After allowing 15 unanswered goals in its first two games, few anticipated that Serbia would provide much of a challenge for undefeated Poland, despite the host's exertions in a shoot-out win over Ukraine 24 hours earlier. It took just 94 seconds to underline that point. Lyszczarczyk potted the opening goal, firing a shot in off the post after Komorski’s face-off win. Then Dominik Pas doubled the lead, getting his third goal in two games after a good combination from Poland’s first line saw him convert Patryk Wronka’s feed.

Down by two inside seven minutes, Serbia was in for another long evening. But the Balkan nation had something to cheer midway through the stanza when it potted its first goal of the tournament. Marko Dragovic flicked a backhand shot into Zabolotny’s pads and Mirko Djumic reacted smartly to whip the puck out of the goalie’s grasp and put it in the net.

Soon after that Serbia got on the power play and, for a moment, could entertain hopes of tying the game. However, there was little threat when playing with an extra man and Poland comfortably snuffed out that danger.

Late in the opening session, the Red-and-Whites showed how a power play should be done: Lyszczarczyk and Kamil Walega moved the puck around the zone nicely before Komorski found himself with all the time and space he needed on the slot to tuck away Poland’s third. 

"This was a pretty nice game for us," Komorski said. "We wanted to have some fun tonight because we expect a much harder game on Sunday [against Japan].

"We scored a lot of goals. That was our problem in the first two games. We only scored five in two games, and that's not a lot if you want to get promoted. Today, lots of guys scored, lots of guys had points, so we can feel a bit better about ourselves, we have more confidence."

The second period saw Poland consolidate its advantage. Serbia’s problems on the draw were its downfall once again midway through the session when a clean Polish win in the O-zone sent Mateusz Michalski away to score on the wraparound. Then Lyszczarczyk’s impressive evening continued with two more helpers, setting up captain Krystian Dziubinski from behind the net before feeding Komorski for a clinical finish to the top shelf. 

Early in the third, Lyszczarczyk and Komorski combined once again for Poland’s seventh goal. Komorski, a three-time Polish champion with GKS Tychy before moving to Czechia, completed his hat-trick and moved to four for the tournament, having previously scored in the opening win over Estonia.

Serbia got one back thanks to Djumic’s second of the evening, prompting Lyszczarczyk to warn against complacency at the back. "We will need to play better in the D-zone and help our goalie more," he said. "We need to be more patient with the puck, but I'm optimistic about our chances on Sunday."

And Poland's emphatic finish to the game fuelled that optimism with further markers for Dziubinski, Walega and Dziubinski again. The captain completed his hat-trick, bringing up double figures for Poland chasing Arsenije Rankovic from the net to give Neil Beaton his first action of the tournament.