Kazakhstan defeated Italy 5-2 on Monday afternoon in Helsinki to score three points and stay in the top division for the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. Italy finishes last in Group A with one point and will be relegated, IIHF.com reports.
With its first win of the tournament, Kazakhstan achieved an historic success. How so? Only once before has the Central Asian republic gotten to play in three consecutive top-level Worlds (2004-06). Even though this result wasn't as impressive as last year's 10th-place finish, the Kazakhs are shedding their reputation as an up-and-down "elevator team."
"We were hoping this wasn't going to be the game we needed. We were hoping to sneak out some wins in other games but we had some key injuries this year and players missing, so for us to get a chance to play in this again next year is good stuff for us."
Heading into this showdown, both sides arguably deserved a better fate. The Italians, for instance, were just over a minute away from securing a three-point shutout win versus France, but in a shocking turnaround, the French rallied for a 2-1 victory on Hugo Gallet’s overtime goal.
Despite going pointless, Kazakhstan had suffered no fewer than four one-goal losses, and even gave the defending champions some trouble in a 6-3 loss to Canada.