2025 World Juniors: Top standouts between Slovakia and Kazakhstan
OTTAWA – Kazakhstan managed to erase a 4-1 deficit to force overtime, but it wasn’t enough as Slovakia held on for the 5-4 overtime victory.
Slovakia has clinched third spot in Group B with five points. Kazakhstan has one, while Switzerland has zero. Those two teams will battle for a quarterfinal spot on Tuesday afternoon at TD Place.
The Slovaks were flying early, with Dalibor Dvorsky scoring two goals in the opening 14 minutes. Dvorsky then helped set up Pekarcik for the 3-0 goal. The shots were 16-1 in the first, so there wasn’t much to celebrate on the Kazakh side. That all changed early in the second when Artur Gross broke free on a breakaway and made it 3-1. Kazakhstan wasn’t able to sustain the pressure and saw Pekarcik score again, giving Slovakia the 4-1 lead.
Things got rather interesting from there, though. Assanali Sarkenov scored at 36:14 to make it 4-2, giving his team some life. Sarkenov was then ejected for cross-checking Frantisek Dej in the face at 55:21, putting Kazakhstan down a man for the remainder of the game. That didn’t stop them, though, as Davlat Nurkenov scored a shorthanded goal just over a minute into the penalty kill to make it 4-3.
Just when everyone thought it was over, it wasn’t. With 29 seconds to go in regulation, Kirill Lyapunov scored another shorthanded goal to force overtime. Unfortunately for Kazakhstan, they couldn’t complete the comeback as Maxim Strbak scored on a breakaway near the end of extra time to secure the victory.
Slovakia
#15 Dalibor Dvorsky, C (St. Louis Blues): From his very first shift, Dvorsky meant business. It looked like he was toying with Kazakhstan out there, making move after move. He finally capitalized at 8:07 before scoring against about five minutes later. He then set up Pekarcik for the third and fourth goals, and almost had another two goals himself. Playing in all situations, Dvorsky was clearly the most skilled player on the ice, and this was his most dominant performance of the tournament.
#18 Juraj Pekarcik, LW (St. Louis Blues): Pekarcik was just as important as Dvorsky. He had two goals and two assits, with the instant chemistry being evident from the get-go. They’ve been paired together in other international tournaments, which explains how they can read passes to each other as well as they do. Pekarcik’s best moment was his pass down to Strbak to win the game in overtime to help avoid a total collapse.
#17 Daniel Jencko, RW (Undrafted): Jencko had two assists to join the fun. His value to the top line was a bit different: he’s a great puckhandler, but he also brought the energy and the speed to the big trio. The UMass forward is having a great year in college and now he finishes the round-robin with four points in four games in his best international tournametn to date. He has good players to play with, but he also has been so good at both ends.
#4 Maxim Strbak, D (Buffalo Sabres): Between blocked shots, an assist and the game-winnng goal, this was a good showing for the Sabres prospect. For the most part, I think he’s been a good two-way threat and I’ve liked how hard he battles to win pucks. He looks stronger than he did a year ago – and any additional offense is nice, too.
Kazakhstan
#55 Vladimir Nikitin, G (Ottawa Senators): Nikitin played his best game of the tournament today, giving Kazakhstan a chance when they were getting blasted on the shot counter. The Senators’ prospect did a better job of tracking shots and using his reflexes to his advantage, and he was forced to make some big saves – especially in the first period. If it wasn’t for his play in the third period, Kazakhstan wasn’t coming back in this one. What a night for the young keeper.
#29 Kirill Lyapunov, LW (Undrafted): Lyapunov has been Kazakhstan’s best forward, and the goal to force overtime was absolutely electric. From the blocked shots earlier in the penalty kill to creating his own rush, Lyapunov was so important in getting the Kazakhs back in the game.
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