South Korean men's hockey players vowed to get better for the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics after a lethargic loss to Kazakhstan in their tuneup contest on Saturday.
Defenseman Lee Don-ku put South Korea on the board first in the opening frame at Seonhak International Ice Rink in Incheon, just west of Seoul, but Kazakhstan ended up taking the game 3-1.
South Korea struggled on both ends, unable to sustain pressure on offense and cut off outlet passes on defense.
Lee, the lone goal scorer, said the games at the Olympics are the ones that count.
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"We should have done a better job with our forechecking and transition offense," he said. "But the important games will take place at the Olympics. Our head coach (Jim Paek) will show us what went wrong after watching the video of this game, and the players already know what went wrong."
Kazakhstan leveled the score on a short-handed goal in the second period by Egor Petukhov.
If 21st-ranked South Korea has trouble against No. 17 Kazakhstan, then what chance does it stand against No. 1-ranked Canada in the group stage at the Olympics?
"Since we gave up a goal while we were on a power play, we have to address that situation," Lee said. "We'll go up against even stronger opponents in the Olympics, and we have to be prepared."
Starting goalie Matt Dalton, who made 23 saves, was more blunt in his post-game assessment.
"I don't think we had our best effort tonight," he said.
South Korea beat Kazakhstan 5-2 at the 2017 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship Division I Group A tournament in April. On Saturday, Kazakhstan didn't have most of its top players that competed in that IIHF event. Asked what went wrong for South Korea this time, Dalton said, "That was a few months ago. A lot can change."
"Hopefully, we can build on this and keep getting better here before the Olympics start," he said. (Yonhap)
