Slovakia Holds Off Pesky Kazakhstan With a Thrilling Overtime Win

St Louis Blues prospect Dalibor Dvorsky had two goals and two assists to lead Slovakia to a 5-4 win in overtime against Kazakhstan. Slovakia finishes Group B play, while winless Kazakhstan will face Switzerland on Tuesday in their final Group B contest, with the loser headed to the relegation game.

Maxim Strbak scored the overtime winner after Kazakhstan rallied late in the third period with two shorthanded goals to force the extra time.

SLOVAKIA HANGS ON!

Maxim Strbak scores in overtime to win 5-4 over Kazakhstan. #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/e9zO6ftAJd

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 30, 2024

Dvorsky scored the first two goals of the game. The opener came at 8:07 after a faceoff win in the Kazakh end. Daniel Jencko stole the puck behind the goal and put it out front to Dvorsky, who beat goalie Vladimir Nikitin with a nifty backhand.

Five minutes later, Dvorsky struck again off the rush. This time, it was a nice feed from Juraj Pekarcik, allowing Dvorsky to snap a quick shot under Nikitin’s glove for a 2-0 lead.

Slovakia played without Washington Capitals prospect Miroslav Satan, who was injured after he was checked into the glass in the third period of a 4-2 loss to Czechia on Sunday (Dec. 29)

Slovakia took a 4-2 lead late into the third period when the play turned ugly, and Kazakhstan’s Assanali Sarkenov was ejected for cross-checking Slovakia’s Frantisek Dej. The two initially were assessed minor penalties for roughing after Sarkenov put a hard check on Dej, and shortly after that, Sarkenov cross-checked Dej in the face.

Being shorthanded did not faze Kazakhstan as Davlat Nurkenov scored a shorthand goal to close the deficit to one, and Kirill Lyapunov then scored with 30 seconds left to tie the game and force overtime.

Strbak’s goal at 2:55 of overtime pushed Slovakia to a 1-1-0-2 record and five points, allowing them to advance to the quarter-finals, which will be played on Thursday (Jan. 2).