Kazakhstan thrashes China 12-0 at IIHF Worlds

Thanks to their swift attacks and steady defense, the Kazaks held a commanding 3-0 lead after scoring the trifecta of even strength and power-play goals within the first 11:28 of the game.

Kazakhstan outshot China 24-6 in the first period with Doszhan Yessirkenov, Andrey Trochshinskiy and Talgat Zhailauov scoring the first three goals apiece.

Kazakhstan extended its compelling attacks in the second period and sealed up the victory very soon after adding five more goals to the scoreboard.

China toiled all through the match on fending off the net, but only melted down to see the gap widening after waves of smashing fire from Kazaks, the Winter Asian Games champions, and never worked its way back into the game.

In the third period, Kazakhstan continued to tighten up its bombarding of China's net, getting further four goals. China's hope of remodeling its drought came in the close of the second period, but Wang Dahai's solo fast counterattack just hit the post and China's best chance to score faltered away.

Konstantin Kassatkin finished his triple of the game; Doszhan Yessirkenov, Alexander Gavrilin and Yevgeniy Fadeyev all scored twice; Sergey Yakovenko, Yevgeniy Ushkov and Lev Krutokhvostov netted apiece.

Kazakhstan had a record of beating China 17-1 at the Winter Asian Games in Chang Chun, Jilin province of Northeast China, in January.

"Having played four times against China, I can feel they are improving. We have big-score victory over China like 20-0 and 17-1 before, but they are trying to narrow the gap and have been making progress in attacks," said Kazakhstan's head coach Anotoliy Kartayev.

China's head Coach Xiang Shuqing was not quite bothered by the loss. "We set our eyes on defence in the match, so we attacked less. We just need to narrow the gap before seeking a victory," said Xiang