Ukraine opens 2022 World Championship Division 1B with a big win over Serbia (w/highlights)
It's been an emotional week for Ukrainian hockey. First, their U-18 men's team opened their tournament with a 6-1 win over Poland, followed by a 6-3 win over Italy.
Now their senior men's team began the 2022 IIHF World Hockey Championship Division 1B tournament with a massive win over newly-promoted Serbia, by a score of 7-0. Former St. Louis Blues draft pick Andriy Mikhnov led the way with four assists in the win.
Prior to Wednesday's game, Ukrainian forward Vitali Lyalka talked about how important it was for his team to get promoted and give their all for their country.
He added, "In Tychy, we need to give it 100 per cent, and even more."
Andreiy Mikhnov, who serves as Ukraine's captain, discussed what today's win meant for the team and added that they deserved it. He also mentioned about how hard it was to prepare for the tournament with their families back in Ukraine.
"When we first went to Hungary it was hard to practice because we were all thinking about our families and the people we had left behind in Ukraine," he added. "Right now, we are trying to focus on our game but of course we call our parents and wives every day."
Ukraine will now face Poland on Thursday, Japan on Saturday and will wrap up the tournament on Sunday against Estonia.
Head coach Vadym Shakhraychuk said post-game that he hopes the win can provide some level of happiness to their country back home.
Highly-motivated and backed by vocal support in Tychy, Ukraine🇺🇦 opened up its Division IB campaign with a convincing 7-0 victory against Serbia.
Game story: https://t.co/vJADxZFsOq pic.twitter.com/mCgblgbP6l— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) April 27, 2022
Source: IIHF.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Brandon Hagel | - | 5 | 5 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Nico Hischier | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Macklin Celebrini | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jakob Chychrun | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Zachary Bolduc | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Will Cuylle | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Lars Eller | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jake Guentzel | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Alex Iafallo | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Ivan | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Drake Batherson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Simon Edvinsson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack Eichel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Morgan Frost | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Miro Heiskanen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 22 | 18 | 4 | - | 36 | |
Devils | 24 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 32 | |
Hurricanes | 21 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 31 | |
Wild | 21 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 30 | |
Golden Knights | 22 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 30 | |
Capitals | 21 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 29 | |
Maple Leafs | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Flames | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 20 | 13 | 7 | - | 26 | |
Rangers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||