In the second game of the World Championships Hungary took on the host nation France in a closely fought game that was decided in extra time.
Head coach Jarmo Tolvanen made some changes in the lineup, Máte Garbacz got the start in net this time with yesterday’s starting goalie Balázs Tóth serving as the backup. The defensive pairings remained the same, however in the forward units Marcell Révész was placed with Ákos Mihály and Andor Péter, Kristóf Papp centered the line of Gergely Tóth and Barnabás Majoross. Brunó Kreisz was between Dávid Molnár and Nátán Vértes with Ákos Szigeti being the 13th forward.
Hungary struck first as Nándor Fejes took a pass from Nátán Vértes, skated down the left wing and took a snapshot from the right wing to give Hungary a 1-0 lead in the third minute of play. Soon after Garbacz made a close save, on the ensuing rush Révész hit the crossbar. In the first half of the period Hungary killed a penalty, but were not able to score on their first man advantage. Later in the period France had a 2 on 1 that Garbacz snuffed out with a flick of a wrist. Later in the period France had a two man advantage that Hungary killed, however France scored on the back end of the power play to tie the game up at 1-1. In the closing minutes of the first period France took their first lead of the game with a shot from the slot that made it through and into the back of the net. Hungary answered back in the final minute of play in the period when a Fejes shot was saved but Zsolt Szalma was on the spot to put the rebound home to tie it up at 2-2.
In the second period Hungary came out with the same bit as they finished up the first period. Gergely Tóth had an excellent chance in from in front of the net. Minutes later Bálint Horváth fed Zsolt Szalma from the corner who one timed it past the goalie to make it 3-2. Both Vértes and Szalma had chances later in the period to open up a two goal lead. Throughout the rest of the period the game had a nice pace as both teams were building attacks, however there were no solid chances until France had a shot with just over five minutes left in the period, however Garbacz pulled it out of the air. In the closing minutes of the period Garbacz made a number big save to keep the game at 3-2 for Hungary.
The first scoring chance in the third period came on the first shift as a French shot hit the post. France had a power play, the closest they had to scoring was on a shot that had made it past Garbacz but Pokornyi was on the spot to scoop the puck out of the air. At the midway point of the period France started to pepper the goal with shots, but Garbacz stood his ground. Barnabás Majoross skated down the left wing and sliced in front of the net but was unable to put the puck past the goalie. France had another scoring chance with just over seven minutes left off of a rebound but the shot sailed wide of the net. Both teams really started to grind as the minutes melted off of the clock. Hungary got pinned in their own end for a long time, the result was a French goal as a shot deflected down and into the back of the net as France tied the game up at 3-3. In the closing minutes it looked like Bálint Horváth was going to skate in on a breakaway however he was tripped up and no penalty was called. France kept the Hungarian net under pressure during the closing minute of the game however the score stayed at 3-3 after 60 minutes of play and the game went into overtime.
In overtime Horváth had a shot go wide, later Hungary was called for an unjust extra attacker on the ice. On the first shot of the power play. France picked up the win in overtime.
Line against France
Szalma, Horváth, Szita
Révész, Péter, Mihály
Tóth, Papp, Majoross
Molnár, Kreisz, Vértes
Szigeti
Szabó, Fejes
Kiss, Sándor
Pokornyi, Sarcia
Vas
Garbacz (B.Tóth
Máté Garbacz, goalie: It was a big game but I tried to go about the game as if it was a regular U20 game. The guys played great and the coaching staff did a great job as well. I didn’t look at who we were playing, I just tried to do my job and stop the puck. There was pressure but every athlete likes to perform when there is pressure on them.
Márk Vas, defenseman: It was nice to pick up our first point of the tournament, it was an exciting game. We had the lead for a long time, but the French team real had pressure on us towards the end and they were able to tie the game up. We were on the same level as them I think.
Ákos Mihály, forward: This was a positive sign that we can play a game like this against the French, we had the lead for a long time and we had created a number of chances. They capitalised on their and we were unable to. Now we will have a day off to recover and to get ready for the next day.
Division 1/A World Championships Schedule:
HUNGARY-Latvia 1-4
HUNGARY-France 3-4 OT
HUNGARY-Kazakstan Wednesday 15:30
HUNGARY-Germany Friday 13:00
HUNGARY-Austria Saturday 16:00
Roster
Name | Pos. | Club | YOB |
Garbacz Máté | G | Vasas | 1998 |
Tóth Balázs | G | Linz (AUT) | 1999 |
Fejes Nándor | D | MAC | 1999 |
Kiss Roland | D | UTE | 1999 |
Pokornyi Dávid | D | UTE | 2000 |
Sándor Flórián | D | Fehérvár AV19 | 1999 |
Sarica Antonino | D | MAC | 1998 |
Szabó Bence | D | Fehérvár AV19 | 1998 |
Vas Márk | D | Fehérvár AV19 | 1999 |
Horváth Bálint | FW | Rögle (SWE) | 1999 |
Kreisz Brúnó | FW | KalPa (FIN) | 1999 |
Majoross Barnabás | FW | MAC | 1998 |
Mihály Ákos | FW | Fehérvár AV19 | 1999 |
Molnár Dávid | FW | MAC | 1998 |
Papp Kristóf | FW | Honeybaked (USA) | 2001 |
Péter Andor | FW | Fehérvár AV19 | 1999 |
Révész Marcell | FW | Zürich (SUI) | 2000 |
Szalma Zsolt | FW | UTE | 1999 |
Szigeti Ákos | FW | Springfield (USA) | 1999 |
Szita Donát | FW | Fehérvár AV19 | 1998 |
Tóth Gergely | FW | MAC | 1998 |
Vértes Nátán | FW | Fehérvár AV19 | 2000 |
Staff
Jarmo Tolvanen | Head Coach | |
Fodor Szabolcs | Assistant Coach | |
Kiss Dávid | Assistant Coach | |
Várady Csaba | Goalie Coach | |
Bagonya Imre | Physio | |
Egri Gergely | Sports Director | |
Magyar Péter | Equipmeant Manager | |
Szilágyi Levente | Team Manager | |
Závodszky Szabolcs | Media Manager |