Kazakhstan beat Poland 6-1 and can still hope for promotion depending on the other results. With the fourth loss in five games Poland is relegated.

After two disappointing losses, Kazakhstan keeps its hope for promotion alive thanks to a XXX victory against Poland that sends the Poles down to the Division I Group B.

Kazakhstan now has to hope it will be tied at nine points in a favourable fashion since it beat two direct opponents (Great Britain and Hungary) but lost
against the other two promotion candidates (Italy and Slovenia). An overtime or
shootout win by either team in the Slovenia-Italy game or a Hungarian win against Great Britain to create a three-team or four-team tie would help the Kazakhs.

Poland cannot improve from sixth and last place anymore and will be relegated after four years in the Division I Group A.

Despite a KHL-starred roster Kazakhstan entered the last team not only as one of five teams who can theoretically get promoted but also as one of three teams
that can be relegated following two straight losses. It was a must-win game for
survival and a chance for promotion for Kazakhstan and it Poland was in need for a regulation-time win to avoid relegation.

The Kazakhs responded well to the pressure and showed their A-game with skill, pressure and punishing errors in the Polish defence. Alikhan Asetov missed out on a penalty shot when he was tripped by Damian Tomasik during a breakaway but in the next shift the Kazakhs opened the scoring at 12:20. Yevgeni Rymarev skated along the goal line and found Roman Starchenko in great position to score the 1-0 goal. One minute later the Kazakhs capitalized on a giveaway. Valeri Orekhov found Pavel Akolzin, who scored from the right face-off circle.

Although Poland kept up on paper, it was the Kazakhs whose chances were more dangerous. Early in the second period they converted their first power play to make it 3-0. Starchenko sent off a long shot from the left boards that beat Przemyslaw Odrobny through his five-hole.

Three minutes later it was the Kazakhs themselves who allowed a goal after a giveaway. Valeri Orekhov's pass behind the own net jumped from Kirill Polokhov's stick straight to Polish forward Krzysztof Zapala, who made it 3-1. Another situation behind the own net with Leonid Metalnikov being assessed a penalty for tripping gave the Poles further opportunities.

However, with 47.7 seconds left in the period and the Kazakhs on power play, Starchenko scored the 4-1 goal to bring his team one more step into the upper direction of the standings. And if that didn't seal the win, then Ivan Kuchin's
goal at 6:03 of the third period did. Unguarded at the centre of the blueline, he took the opportunity to increase Kazakhstan's lead to 5-1.

The further away the Poles were from coming back, the less disciplined they acted. Krystian Dziubinski's five-minute major penalty for spearing was just the start of a serious of penalties that kept the Polish penalty box busy for the remainder of the game. That allowed Starchenko to end his day with a fourth
goal and the 6-1 score.

MARTIN MERK

http://wmia2018.iihf.hockey/en/news/kaz-pol/
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