Four Remaining Quarterfinal Spots Taken by Play-off Favorites – 05.12.2018

The play-off round is over and we saw all four favorites advance to the quarterfinals. In the first match at the O2 Arena, Slovakia had to bow to the strong Latvian side. The same applies to the Estonians, who were within arm’s reach of victory for a long part of the match against Denmark, but in the end lost by a single goal. At Arena Sparta, Norway outclassed Australia and in the evening Germany beat Canada.

Latvia – Slovakia 6-1 (2-1, 0-0, 4-0)

The first match of the elimination stage came of better for the Latvians. Their patient floorball bore fruit and thanks to the contribution by the two-goal scorers Cerins and Jansons they will meet Sweden in the quarterfinals on Friday. The Slovaks definitely had some chances to turn the match into a drama. At 3-1 for Latvia, Dudovič had a penalty-shot opportunity after a foul on Gašparík, but the championship scoring leader (7+9) failed to score this time. And Slovakia didn’t capitalize on their power-plays either.

Denmark – Estonia 3-2 (1-0, 0-1, 2-1)

An attractive and evenly balanced game that was decided by the Danish captain Mikkel Skov Nielsen and his game-winning goal in the 52nd minute. The Estonians were the slightly better side from about halfway through the match, but due to the Danish goalie Trolle (40 saves) and sometimes due to bad luck they were not productive enough. The Danish forward Emil Odfeldt, who recorded two points in the game (1+1), was selected his team’s MVP. Denmark will face the home team of the Czech Republic in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Norway – Australia 10-0 (3-0, 4-0, 3-0)

The third play-off game and the first one taking place at the Arena Sparta featured the teams of Norway and Australia. The Aussies qualified for the play-offs at the last moment, following their high win over Japan. On the other hand, Norway was sent into the play-off round after losing only to the Nordic floorball powers. The difference in the teams’ qualities was significant, but the Australians presented themselves with a fearless offensive performance, which definitely won them favor of quite a few fans in the stands. Despite all this, Australia was outclassed 0-10 and will play for the 9th–12th place. Norway will take on Switzerland in the tomorrow’s quarterfinals.

Germany – Canada 7-2 (2-1, 3-1, 2-0)

In the last match of the day, Germany took on Canada but had a really poor start into the game. The Germans conceded in the first minute already and had to realize very quickly that the match won’t be easy at all. Canada defended lion-heartedly but still left some cracks in their defensive wall. Four and a half minutes before the end the North Americans pulled their goalie, but their final pressure was thwarted by two penalties with about ninety seconds left on the clock, in which they conceded their final goal.