The USA/Kazakhstan game was a disgrace. I haven't seen that much clutching and grabbing since the lockout. All Kazakhstan was doing all game was interering with illegal blocks and grabbing onto much faster, much more skilled USA players. And then there was the icing. Have I mentioned that I really hate the IIHF icing rule? Kazakhstan just iced the puck whenever it could, forcing a face-off to get a line change. In the NHL, they wouldn't get that line change, but the attacking team sure would.
All that said, the US played a much better game, and Dipietro was solid. They skated very well against Latvia, but this time they used the wider ice to move the puck faster going side to side, and not just up and down like in the NHL.
The line of Gomez, Gianta, and Tkuchuk really stood out all game. Gomez and Gianta both play for the New Jersey Devils, and I wouldn't be surprised if Tkuchuk asked to be traded there when he gets back to the States. St. Louis is looking to trade Tkuchuk and few more veterans by the trade deadline as they continue to work on selling the team.
Below are the standings after two days of play. The top four teams in each pool advance to the quarterfinals.
| Group A | W | L | T | Points |
|---|
| FIN | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
|---|
| CAN | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
|---|
| CZE | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
|---|
| SUI | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
|---|
| GER | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
|---|
| ITA | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
|---|
| Group B | W | L | T | Points |
|---|
| SVK | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
|---|
| USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
|---|
| RUS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
|---|
| SWE | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
|---|
| LAT | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
|---|
| KAZ | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
|---|
