Ukraine's junior hockey team lost to Kazakhstan after leading 3–0
Ukraine's junior national team suffered its second loss at the World Hockey Championship in Division IA. The Ukrainian team led 3–0 but ultimately lost to the Kazakhstani national team.
This was reported with reference to the Ukrainian Ice Hockey Federation.
Game Summary: Ukraine vs. Kazakhstan
Even before the game began, the Ukrainian national team’s coaching staff faced a difficult task: rebuilding the lineup without two defensemen. The first half of the first period saw alternating attacks on both goals, but the goalies played well. In the 9th minute, Artem Chaika broke through to the opponent’s goal, but was again unable to beat the goalie.
After several penalties on both sides, Ukraine earned a power play opportunity with 5 minutes remaining in the game. Following a two-minute offensive push by our team, they capitalized on the opportunity through a combined effort by Yaroslav Panasenko and Artem Ratushniak, even after the teams returned to full strength. Just 30 seconds later, Sviatoslav Vasyak capitalized on a mistake by the opposing goalie and scored the second goal. After conceding the second goal, the Kazakhs tried to attack our net, but they couldn’t get past Illia Bobrov. In the final seconds of the period, Danylo Olifirchuk found himself one-on-one with the opposing goalie, but he was unable to score a third goal.
The second period began with attacks by the Ukrainian national team. These attacks continued until the start of their power play. Following the pattern of the first period: immediately after the power play ended, Yaroslav Panasenko scored the third goal. Ukraine continued to attack the opponents’ net, but on the Kazakhs’ first counterattack in the 6th minute of the period, they managed to open the scoring for their team. Midway through the period, the Ukrainians had another power play opportunity: they failed to convert it into a goal for the third time. Overall, Ilya Bobrov managed to neutralize the Kazakhstani team’s infrequent shots. By the end of the period, the opponents had taken control of the offense: our team made two mistakes in front of our net; while our goalie managed to save one shot, the second shot found the net in less than 2.5 minutes. After scoring their goal, the opponents picked up the pace significantly and continued to attack our net.
The third period began with another penalty by a Kazakhstan player in the fourth minute, but immediately after the faceoff, Maksym Vershetskyi also committed a penalty. The 4-on-4 play featured attacks from both teams. At the 7-minute mark of the period, Kazakhstan managed to tie the game, and immediately afterward, they tried to continue attacking our goalie’s net. Midway through the period, the opponents committed another penalty. The referees penalized Kazakhstan for the same infraction for the second time in a row, but they were unable to regain the lead within four minutes. Our team had a good chance with 6 minutes left in the period, but it ended with only the goalpost being hit. With 3:20 remaining, Kazakhstan took the lead for the first time in the match. In the final seconds of the match, our team played with an empty net, and the Kazakhs hit the post of our goal. With 6 seconds left in the period, Kazakhstan called a timeout, and Ukraine immediately followed suit. However, in the final 6 seconds, the puck found its way into our team’s empty net.
Tomorrow, April 22, 2026, is another day off in Krynica-Zdrój, the final one of this World Championship. The Ukrainians will play their next match on Thursday, April 23, 2026, against the host team Poland, starting at 8:30 p.m. Kyiv time.
Hockey. 2026 U18 World Championship. Division IA. Third Round
Ukraine – Kazakhstan 3:5 (2:0, 1:2, 0:3)
- Goals: 1:0 – Ratushniak (Panasenko, Olifirchuk), 17:02, 2:0 – Vasyak (Ratushniak, Vorotelyak), 17:33, 3:0 – Panasenko (Vorotelyak), 24:53, 3:1 – Anufriyev (Chukreev), 26:23, 3:2 – Kolenko (Kairzhan, Zadorozhny), 37:31, 3:3 – Gridasov (Zadorozhny, Kolenko), 47:13, 3:4 – Reshetko (Bigarinov, Kravchenko), 56:40, 3:5 – Kravchenko (empty net), 59:59.
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