South Korea defeated Hungary 3-1 for its third straight victory at the men's hockey world championship in Ukraine, moving a step closer to a promotion to the sport's top-tier competition.
The 23rd-ranked South Korean team erased a 1-0 deficit against No. 19 Hungary with three unanswered goals on Monday (local time) at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship Division I Group A at the Palace of Sports in Kiev.
Brothers Shin Sang-hoon and Sin Sang-woo each netted a goal in the third period, while top-line forward Kim Ki-sung scored for the third straight game.
South Korean forward Shin Sang-hoon takes a shot against Hungary at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship Division I Group A at the Palace of Sports in Kiev, Ukraine, on April 25, 2017. (Hockey Photo)
South Korea, coached by former National Hockey League defenseman Jim Paek, now has three wins against one tie and 12 losses all-time against Hungary.
The six-nation competition, which goes through Friday, is the second-highest level of men's international hockey. The top two teams after the round-robin play will be promoted to the top-flight IIHF World Championship next year, while the worst team will drop to Division I Group B.
Three victories have put South Korea at the top with two games remaining. Other nations in the tournament are Kazakhstan (No. 16) , Austria (No. 17), Poland (No. 20) and Ukraine (No. 22).
South Korea earlier defeated Poland 4-2 and then Kazakhstan 5-2. It will next face Austria on Thursday. South Korea leads the tournament with 12 goals after three games.
Against Hungary, South Korea squandered three power-play opportunities in the scoreless first period. Both goalies, Matt Dalton for South Korea and Bence Balizs for Hungary, made huge saves to put zeroes on the board.
Dalton stoned Vilmos Gallo in the point-blank range following a two-on-one breakaway. On the other end, Balizs, making his first start of the tournament, denied Park Woo-sang on a rebound at the top of the crease with about two minutes left in the opening period.
South Korea paid dearly after taking back-to-back high sticking penalties early in the second period, as Hungary converted on the ensuing two-man advantage to take a 1-0 lead.
It was Daniel Koger who came through for Hungary, as he redirected a slap shot by Bence Sziranyi past Dalton at 3:45 in the second.
South Korea kept knocking on the door, and Balizs continued to stand tall in net. South Korea finally broke through at 15:43 on Kim Ki-sung's third goal of the tournament.
Kim's younger brother, Sang-wook, fired the puck toward the net from below the goal line, and Ki-sung buried home the rebound to tie the score at 1-1.
South Korea nearly broke the tie on a power play with a dozen seconds left in the period. Shin Sang-hoon fired a wrist shot at Balizs on a breakaway, and the puck squeezed through the goalie and lay on the crease, before Sziranyi cleared it out of harm's way.
Shin did get his redemption with the go-ahead goal at 6:31 in the third, thanks to some strong individual efforts.
After firing one off the end boards, Shin beat two Hungarian defensemen to the puck that caromed out to the right face-off circle. Shin's shot then beat Balizs on the short side from a tough angle, leaving the Hungarian goalie shaking his head in disbelief.
Sin Sang-woo, Shin's older brother, then put the game further out of reach with a breakaway goal at 15:13. Sin poked a loose puck out of his own zone to start a two-on-one chance, and snapped one home to the top shelf for the 3-1 South Korean lead.
With under four minutes remaining, Hungary had the power play and pulled the goalie for an extra attacker. But Dalton was at his best in crunch time, squashing any hopes of a Hungarian rally.
Dalton made 22 saves in the win, and now boasts a tournament-best .946 save percentage, having stopped 88 of 93 shots in three games. He also has the best goals against average at 1.67.
On a down note, South Korea failed to score on four power-play chances, and is now 1-for-11 with a man advantage, the worst success rate in the competition.
This is a key test tournament for South Korea ahead of its Olympic debut on home ice next year at the PyeongChang Winter Games. South Korea earned a spot as the host, and will face world No. 1 Canada, along with the Czech Republic and Switzerland. (Yonhap)