Sunday night featured the Slovak's taking on Kazakhstan, with the relegation round on the line.Both teams win-less heading into the game, the loser would be destined for the relegation round, barring Kazakhstan upsetting Sweden on New Year's Eve.
The scoring came early and the scoring came fast. 20 seconds in Adam Liska got Slovakia on the board, and 12 seconds later Adam Ruzicka doubled their lead.
By the end of the first Slovakia had a controlling 6-0 lead.
The Slovak's scored twice more in 2nd, before Kazakhstan finally scored their first of the game. Artur Gatiyatov found the back of the net on the powerplay, making it only 8-1 Slovakia, midway through the 2nd.
Pavol Regenda scored again for the Slovak's before the 2nd period expired, making the score 9-1.
Gatiyatov scored his 2nd powerplay marker of the night for Kazakhstan a few minutes into the 3rd period, meaning fans got to hear Kazakhstan's famous goal song "Sweet Caroline" once more.
Slovakia potted 2 more before the final buzzer sounded, meaning they were victorious 11-2.
Each Kazakhstan goalie faced over 20 shots, combining for the 11 goals against.
Adam Ruzicka and Pavol Regenda lead the way for Slovakia, each registering 3 points in the game and having shifts of pure offensive dominance. Ruzicka is currently a point-per-game player in the OHL for the Sarnia Sting, while Regenda is having a strong season for the Vaxjo Lakers J20 team in the SuperElite League.
Sayan Daniyar put up 2 assists for Kazakhstan, and the captain was one of the standout players in the game despite the blowout. He currently plays in the MHL, the highest junior league in Russia (also a farm system for the KHL) where he has registered 38 points in 38 games.
The entire Kazakhstan team plays in the MHL, with the exception of 3 players playing pro in Kazakhstan, and their assistant captain, Valeri Orekhov, who has played 24 games in the KHL this season.
Slovakia finished the round robin with a record of 1-0-0-3 while Kazakhstan will search for a huge win over Team Sweden this evening, though the odds are very stacked against them.