By Canadian Press

Slovakia earns wild 5-4 win over Kazakhstan at world junior hockey championship

Dec 30, 2024 | 1:43 PM

OTTAWA — Maxim Strback scored two minutes 55 seconds into overtime as Slovakia posted a wild 5-4 win over Kazakhstan on Monday at the world junior hockey championship.

Slovakia looked to have the game wrapped up when — leading 4-2 with less than five minutes to go in regulation — Kazakh forward Asanali Sarkenov was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for cross-checking Slovak forward Frantisek Dej.

Kazakhstan scored twice while short-handed to send the game to overtime.

Davlat Nurkenov scored at 16:37 of the final period, while Kirill Lyapunov tied it with just 29 seconds left on the clock.

Dalibor Dvorsky and Juraj Pekarcik each scored twice for Slovakia, which twice had a three-goal lead only to see Kazakhstan battle back.

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Sarkenov and Artur Gross scored the other goals for Kazakhstan.

Vladimir Nikitin, an Ottawa Senators prospect, made 37 saves for Kazakhstan, including four in overtime.

Samuel Urban struggled in goal for Slovakia, allowing four goals on 17 shots.

The point was Kazakhstan’s first of the tournament after opening with two lopsided losses, moving the country one point ahead of Switzerland’s last place rank in the Group B standings.

The two teams are to meet Tuesday on the final day of preliminary round action, with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line.

Slovakia wrapped up its preliminary round with five points on a regulation win, an overtime win and two losses. The Slovaks were guaranteed to finish third in Group B and advance to the quarterfinals.

Later on Monday, Germany faced Latvia in a battle of two teams vying for the last quarterfinal spot in Group A.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 30, 2024.

The Canadian Press

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Slovakia’s Maxim Strbak (4) and Sweden forward Otto Stenberg (25) battle for the puck during third period IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship preliminary round action in Ottawa, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

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