Dallas Stars News: Faksa, Klingberg Headed To World Quarterfinals
By Josh Clark
The preliminary round has wrapped up at the 2019 World Championship and it’s time for quarterfinals action. Both Dallas Stars players are still in the running for a medal and are helping their home countries forge ahead in the tournament.
It’s been 13 days since the Dallas Stars wrapped up exit interview day and went their separate ways for the 2019 offseason. And while most headed home to their native countries or went on vacations across the world, two players in particular grabbed their equipment bags and headed for Slovakia.
While the majority of NHL fans have now shifted their attention to the impending Stanley Cup Final matchup between the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues, Game 1 of the series isn’t until May 27.
Luckily for hockey fans, the 2019 IIHF World Championship in Slovakia will fill the upcoming five-day void with plenty of exciting hockey action.
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The annual 16-team tournament wrapped up preliminary play on Tuesday afternoon. With that being said, the top four teams from both Group A and Group B moved on to the quarterfinals, while the bottom four teams in each group were eliminated after a seven-game pool play schedule through the first 12 days of the tournament.
Now we have the quarterfinals, semifinals, and medal games to take in over the next few days. The eight teams moving onto the next round are the United States, Russia, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Germany, and the Czech Republic.
That bodes well for Radek Faksa (Czech Republic) and John Klingberg (Sweden). The two Dallas Stars players both put together impressive showings in preliminary play and helped push their home countries to the final eight.
Faksa played in four games with the Czechs during the preliminary round and tallied one goal, four points, and a +1 rating. His one goal happened to be the game-winner in an 8-0 victory over Austria, a game in which he also led the Czechs in points.
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As a result, the Czechs finished in second place in Group B with a record of 6-1-0 and a goal differential of +25. Their only loss came against Russia, which finished in first place in Group B with a perfect record of 7-0-0.
The Czech Republic will now move on and begin playoff action on Thursday at 1:15 p.m. CT. They will take on Germany, which finished in third place in Group A with a record of 5-2-0.
Meanwhile, Klingberg finished preliminary play with Team Sweden on a rather consistent note. After going pointless in a 9-1 win over Austria in his tournament debut, he posted a point in each of his final three games to finish pool play with one goal and three points as well as a +2 rating. In addition, he leads the Swedes in average ice time with 23:16.
The Swedes finished third overall in the Group B standings with a record of 5-2-0 and a goal differential of +20. Their two losses came against the two teams in front of them in the standings, being Russia and the Czech Republic.
Sweden will now move on to face Finland, which finished in second place in Group A, in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 1:15 p.m. CT.
The Swedes are currently going for their third consecutive gold medal while the Czechs are looking to medal in any fashion for the first time since 2012.
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It’s shaping up to be a fun race to the gold for both Dallas Stars players and should serve as a perfect void-filler before the Stanley Cup Final starts up (that is, if you’re even planning on tuning in).