Four more games on the docket for today’s edition of the World Hockey Championship.
Group A Preliminary Games
9:15 AM ET: Czech Republic vs. Kazakhstan
The Czech Republic sits comfortably atop Group A as its only undefeated team. They also claim the tournament’s second highest goal differential, largely thanks to a 7-0 rout of Norway yesterday. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan has struggled, with only one win which came in overtime against Switzerland in their first match.
They lost to Russia and Sweden, which isn’t unexpected but lost to Norway in what has to be considered an upset. Nigel Dawes has six points in four games for Kazakhstan. His team has a stronger power play than the Czech Republic and discipline might be their only hope today. The game will be shown on TSN4 in Canada.
1:15 PM ET: Denmark vs. Latvia
This game should be a relief to both teams, as they combine for merely one win between them. Both nations had been climbing up the ranks of international hockey but have stumbled out of the gate early at the Worlds. Denmark has one win and three losses to some tough teams (Sweden, Switzerland and Russia).
They were blown out yesterday 10-1 at the hands of the host country and look to reverse their fortunes against Latvia today. Both teams have relied on their goaltending more than their scoring and could use this game to boost their scoring numbers. This game will be shown on TSN 2 in Canada.
Group B Preliminary Games
9:15 AM ET: USA vs. Hungary
Team USA hopes to close the gap with Canada and Finland who top Group B thus far when they take on the worst team in the division, Hungary, who are winless through four games. The Americans have lost to both teams ahead of them but should be able to handle the rest of the group games.
They defeated France 4-0 yesterday and hope to take more momentum with a win today. Hungary meanwhile has struggled to impress, and have been beaten rather handily by all four opponents they’ve faced already. Neither team has players in the points leader board, but Team USA could change that with a big game today. This game will be shown on TSN 1/3 in Canada.
1:15 PM ET: Germany vs. Belarus
This game features two teams who have been victims of a tough group, winning only once each, both teams having beaten Slovakia. Belarus scores more than Germany, but are also the tournament’s most penalized team and have poor penalty killing. Both squads have weak back ends and suffer from having the two worst goalie performances among all teams.
This game may not be a marquis matchup, but it’s a game that should have two teams hungry to claim some pride points as each has a reasonable chance of winning; it could therefore be more entertaining than expected. This game will be shown on TSN 1/3 in Canada.
All games will be streamed here (subject to geo-blocking). TSN Go will be streaming all of the games as well in Canada.
