Slovakia 5, Germany 0 ~ Dec. 29
Ruzicka scores natural hat trick; Halak posts second straight shutout
Posted on Thu, Dec. 30, 2004
By Brad E. Schlossman
Herald Staff Writer
THIEF RIVER FALLS - The offensive performances overshadowed Jaroslav Halak's defense.
Team Slovakia got a natural hat trick, the first of the World Junior Championship, from Stefan Ruzicka in the first period of Wednesday's 5-0 win over Germany in Group B play. And Slovakian captain Andrej Meszaros had two goals and an assist.
But all the players were talking about after the game was Jaroslav Halak.
The Slovakian goaltender made 11 saves in the shutout win against Germany in Thief River Falls' Ralph Engelstad Arena. It is the second straight shutout for Halak and the Slovakians, who blanked Team Finland 2-0 on Monday.
"Defense is what wins you tournaments like this," Slovakian defenseman Boris Valabik said. "You can have the goal scorers, but defense is what gets you wins. I think we played good defense and we have a very good goalie."
The win puts Team Slovakia in position to advance to the medal round. The Slovakians can clinch a place there if they top Sweden at 7:30 tonight in Thief River Falls. If the Slovakians lose by one or two goals, they can still get in if Canada beats Finland.
The Germans finish preliminary play 0-4 and will play in relegation.
"This was a big win for us," Meszaros said. "We had to win this game, and we played very good hockey."
Slovakia played well on both ends. The Slovakians had more shots on goal in the first period (14) than the Germans did all game (11).
"We played good defense against Finland, and we did against Germany, too," Meszaros said. "We have a good goalie and a good team."
Team Slovakia jumped to an early lead. Ruzicka broke in on German goalkeeper Thomas Greiss' right side and flipped a backhander top shelf for the goal.
At the 7:43 mark, Ruzicka scored on a wraparound for a 2-0 lead. He notched the natural hat trick at the 13 minutes, 50 seconds on his flashiest goal of the night. Ruzicka charged toward the net from the right wing with a defender just to his left. As he approached the goal, Ruzicka moved the puck to his left and pushed it by Greiss with one hand.
"We had a very fast start," Slovakia coach Dusan Gregor said. "From the beginning of the game, we played very good. We had a very good start, and we kept it up."
Germany assistant coach Uwe Krupp also praised the play of the Slovakians.
"Slovakia played very physical," he said. "They played a good all-around game. There's not a lot of holes in their game. They're a good team."
