U20: Hungary comes up short in exciting game

Head coach Márton Vas and his coaching staff went with Martin Szeles in net with Dávid Kovács serving as the backup goalie, sitting out the game was Nátán Vértes.

In the first part of the opening period both teams were able to set up in the opposing teams zone. Ukraine had clear shots on net early on but Martin Szeles made a number of saves. Papp set up Szalma with a nice pass through traffic but the Ukraine netminder was on the spot for the save. Later in the period Ukraine had a power play that Hungary was able to kill it as Ukraine registered on shot on net during the two minutes. In the closing minutes of the period Hungary peppered the goalie with shots as Révész and Mihály shots from close range. Hungary had late power play that they were able to rotate the puck nicely which ended up with Ákos Mihály setting up Benedek Madácsi from behind the net for the goal from the slot. After the first 20 minutes Hungary had one more shot on net than Ukraine, 7-6.
The second period early on looked much like the first but it was Ukraine who scored the next goal as Mateichenko put a rebound in from up close to make it 1-1. Hungary had a power play soon after the Ukraine goal but were not able to take advantage of it. At the midway point of the game Hungary switched goalie as it was planned with Kovács coming in for Szeles. On their second power play of the period Hungary came close to tieing it up but they hit the post. It was Ukraine that scored the next goal of the game when it Firsov that flipped a rebound over Kovács. The game took a back and forth flow to it, Szalma had scoring chance as he beat the goalie but the puck did not cross the goal line. After killing a penalty late in the period Hungary had a chance to tie the game up but Bálint Horváth hit the pipe, on the next rush it was Milán Horváth hitting the post as well. In the second period Ukraine outshot Hungary by the score of 10-7.

The balanced back and forth play between the two teams continued in the third period. The first real scoring chance in the period came when Révész made a pass up to the blue line for the one timer by Ákos Mihály, however the Ukraine goalie pushed the shot aside. The period went on the puck started spend more and more time in the Ukraine end of the ice. The first penalty of the period came late in the final period but it was called against Hungary. The penalty kill was working well as the first shot on net was taken by Hungary during the two minutes. Just after killing the penalty Hungary really put pressure on the Ukraine cage. With just under two minutes left in the game Bálint Horváth set up Szalma who one timed the puck high blocker side to make it 2-2.  With 40 seconds left Ukraine took back the lead on a 2 on 2 which ended with Syrotenko scoring the eventual game winner.

Line up
Szalma, Horváth B., Papp
Dézsi, Révész, Mihály
Péter A., Császár, Madácsi
Péter D., Kreisz, Kovács A.

Bugár, Fejes
Sándor, Kiss
Seregély, Vas
Horváth M.

Szeles (Kovács D.)

Scratched: Vértes

Schedule:

HUNGARY-Ukraine (Exhibition game in Kassa, SVK) 3-2

World Championships
December 08th, 13:00: HUNGARY-Japan
December 09th, 20:00: HUNGARY-Ukraine
December 11th, 13:00: HUNGARY-Italy
December 12th, 20:00: HUNGARY-Slovenia
December 14th, 16:30: HUNGARY-Poland

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