Ukraine was disappointingly lost to France

Igor Rudinsky

On their ice in the capital’s Palace of Sports, the Ukrainians were again not considered favorites. Even despite the fact that before the start of the World Cup they beat the French in Brovary in an incredible test match according to the scenario (5:4 in overtime). The tricolors, having scored two victories at the start of the tournament, are striving to return to Division I of Group A, from where the team dropped out a year ago. But also among the wards Oleg Ignatiev after a beautiful victory over the Poles on Saturday (3:0) there was a chance to compete for the only ticket.

The guests began to be more active, and by the 6th minute they were already leading by two goals. If the first goal was largely accidental (the opponent corrected the throw with a skate), then the second one a minute later was due to a gross mistake by the Ukrainians in their zone.

The French continued to push, but the yellow-blues were able to recover and began to respond. The hosts had two one-on-one appearances, but the tricolors heavily loaded the goalkeeper of the Ukrainians with work Artur Oganjanyan, which reflected for the first period as many as 15 (!) Throws. And yet, Ignatiev’s wards returned to the game, when, at the end of the period, the second link played an excellent combination, and Denis Archipenko narrowed the gap – 1:2.

After the break, the Ukrainians were able to improve, creating great scoring chances. By the middle of the period, the hosts earned the majority, and simply tormented the opponents’ defense, and later seized the initiative. The spectators in the stands clutched their heads over and over again, not understanding how miraculously the puck did not fly into the French goal, although Oganjanyan also had enough work.

The third period showed that the Ukrainian team is in good physical condition. The yellow-blues closed the French in the zone for a long time, and the opponent had to rely on quick counterattacks. One of them became smashing: in the 54th minute, the third puck was in the gates of the Ukrainians – 1:3.

Although the owners had a chance to escape a little over a minute before the siren. The French remained in the minority, Ignatiev took a timeout and released the sixth field. Alas, the assault came to nothing.

On Sunday, the Estonians, losing three goals to the Italians, managed to snatch the victory under the curtain – 5:4. And the national teams of Hungary and Poland staged a real scoring carnival – 10:7 in favor of the Hungarians, who lead the standings along with the French – 9 points each. Ukraine, Poland and Estonia scored three each, while the Italians close the six with zero.

December 16 at the World Cup is a day of rest, and on Tuesday Hungary and France will open the game program – this will be a match for first place. The Ukrainians will take to the ice of the capital’s Palace of Sports in the evening and play with the outsider Italy (beginning at 20:00).