International Ice Hockey Federation

Korea remains perfect

Korea remains perfect

Victory against Dutch puts them in pole position

Published 15.04.2015 00:32 GMT+2 | Author Joeri Loonen
Korea remains perfect
Korea lines up for the anthem after 7-1 win over the Netherlands. Photo: Thijs de Witte
Also in their second game the Koreans had no trouble to find the back of the net. After defeating Estonia they were far too strong for the Netherlands; 7-1.

Albeit playing against the two lowest seeded teams in the group, Korea made no mistake of their intentions. Where the other medal candidates in the group have trouble scoring, the Koreans so far have been enjoying their time in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

A 7-3 victory over Estonia yesterday was followed up by a 7-1 win against the hosts of the Netherlands.

The slick skating Asians were too quick for the Dutch who had trouble coping with the Koreans right from the start.

"We played the game that we're capable of," Mike Testwuide commented afterwards. "We lacked an edge yesterday against Estonia but found back our game today."

Like yesterday, the Dutch crowd witnessed a quick goal. Once again it was scored by the opponent. Sanghoon Shin's initial effort was blocked by defenceman Jeffrey van Iersel but the rebound did not go wasted.

At 15:30, Korea extended their lead with another rebound goal. Mike Testwuide came close but his shot rang off the inside of the post. Minho Cho was left all alone at the far post to tip in the lose puck though to make it 2-0.

Had the Dutch still believed in a comeback then that belief vanished right at the start of the second period.

Korea needed only three seconds of the first power play of the game to make it 3-0. The goal was simple yet effective. Michael Swift won the faceoff, Don Ku Lee fired successfully.

"They were faster and better in all aspects of the game," Dutch coach Chris Eimers said about the Koreans. "Players don't get away with mistakes here that they do in the Dutch league, that's a big difference. Korea was simply too good."

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Michael Swift turned from provider to goalscorer for Korea's fourth and fifth goal before the Netherlands finally could get on the scoreboard themselves.

Having squandered a handful of good opportunities in the first period, Kevin Bruiijsten tipped in a rebound from close range late in the second period with the Dutch on a power play.

The goal meant the hosts finally manged to score a goal in this tournament after having been blanked for nearly 100 minutes.

At the start of the third period, Martijn Oosterwijk replaced Ian Meierdres in the Dutch net but it did not stop the Koreans from dominating. With a master display of slick skating and puck control Ki Sung Kim and Sangwook Kim dazzled the complete Dutch team. Don Ku Lee was left with a simple finish to make it 6-1 at 48:32.

Min Ho Cho completed the 7-1 rout with a nifty backhand shot to add some salt into the Dutch wounds.

With 14 goals from two games Korea looks red hot. Nevertheless the day off is welcomed very much. "Our coaches have us train hard preparing us for this tournament, so a day off will be great," Testwuide acknowledges. "I am confident we can keep up this level in our remaining games. I'm looking forward to the games against Croatia and Great Britain. Especially the British have impressed me so far."

Korea heads into the non-playing day as tournament leaders as the only team that managed to take the maximum six points from two games. The Netherlands will try to regroup after this heavy loss before playing Croatia on Thursday.

 

 

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