• Lithuania moving up

    From IIHF News@1:266/404 to All on Sat Apr 28 20:00:29 2018
    In front of 10,170 ecstatic home fans, Lithuania celebrates winning gold in Division 1B after downing Estonia, 4-1.

    In the battle of the Baltics, Pavilas Vernis scored a brace while blueliners Nerijus Alisauskas and Jaunius Jasinevicius scored one apiece as Lithuania went
    undefeated through the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group
    B in Kaunas.

    Lithuania's 4-1 final day win sealed their promotion to the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A. Japan finished second to win silver while Estonia slipped down to third in Division I Group B.

    "I think one of the biggest influences to our success was the arrival of Darius
    Kasparaitis and Dainius Zubrus to our team. We had read about them, but we never had them together in our locker room. We have a good team, but those two guys made the difference," said Lithuania's captain of the evening, Mindaugas Kieras who played his 100th and last game for Lithuania this evening.

    Robert Rooba got Estonia's marker as they went ahead before conceding four straight unanswered goals. Villem-Henrik Koitmaa recorded 39 saves and was voted the best goalkeeper of the tournament by the Directorate.

    "They guys gave it all and I am very proud of them. You could see right after the game that the players are disappointed as there was so much at stake. In the third period we still had chances which could have gotten us close, but tonight we lost against worthy winners and the best team of the tournament" said Estonia's head coach Jussi Tupamaki being gracious in defeat.

    The clash got off to an intriguing start as it was the surprise package Estonia
    that got in front. Lithuania's netminder Mantas Armalis had lost his stick when
    Rooba surprised by snapping a trademark wrister from the left boards after 4:20
    for a shock lead that helped settle Estonian nerves.

    "It was such an important game for gold or bronze, and I've never played against so many people so it was a bit nervous, but when you got into the game it was ok," said Estonia's Artjom Gornostajev.

    The lead only lasted for just over three minutes before Zubrus won a draw and Alisauskas hit a bullet from the blueline for this first of the tournament to tie the game at one.

    "I was impressed by Estonia, they have a young team now and new guys stepping in and playing really good hockey without trying to make any mistakes. We knew they were a good team, but we felt that they would have to do something extra in order to take the win away from us," said Kieras.

    Winning the shots in the first frame 14-7, Lithuania went in front when Daniel Bogdziul fed Jasinevicius who lofted a shot past Koitmaa for 2-1 after 15:42.

    With the game still in the balance, Tadas Kumeliauskas collected the puck from his own defensive zone and charged towards Estonia's net, got intercepted by Marko Kettunen before the puck went to Verenis who showed no hesitation to hit high past Koitmaa to stretch Lithuania's lead to 3-1 at 35:58

    With Verenis serving a cross-checking minor at the start of the final frame, Estonia piled up the pressure on powerplay with Robert Arrak and Andrei Makrov both denied by Armalis.

    As Estonia's energy level deteriorated, Tupamaki called a timeout with 8:53 for
    a well-deserved breather. With 3:41 left of the game, Estonia pulled Koitmaa from the net, but it took only 20 seconds before Verenis converted an empty-netter as the crowd got on their feet to celebrate a memorable night for Lithuanian hockey and its heroes.

    HENRIK MANNINEN

    http://wmib2018.iihf.hockey/en/news/ltu-est/
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