Three points for the Czechs after a hard job against Latvia

During all three previous Czech Republic games in the start of Worlds the Czechs stopped out of expectations. Tonight, during the first period against Latvia they did not convince of their qualities again. The spectators watched a fight of two unruffled teams with low count of goal-chances.

But if any of teams earned a scoring opportunity, the Latvians were more decisive. They used every single chance to shoot on the goal. Cibulskis and Daugavins perfectly demonstrated it during the 6th and 13th minute of the first period when both fired on an uncovered net. In comparison, the Czech playing was too complicated. The Czechs still kept looking for a pass instead of a shot.

They did not wake up earlier than Latvia took the lead four minutes after the start of the second period. In a minute after Hemský's shot from a spot between the circles Berzins opened the scoring. Kenins finds him unguarded ahead of Kovář's net.

The Czechs grabbed the puck possession and started to press the opponent into its defensive zone immediately. At first, Průcha appeared behind Masalskis but was not able to score. Four minutes later, during the 29th minute the score became 1-1. It was during a 4-on-4 play when Plekanec and Michálek went into a quick fight-back against two Latvian defensemen. A Czech defender Nakládal empowered their counterattack to make it 3 on 2 from a false-wing position. The puck rebounded from Masalskis to Michálek after Plekanec's shot and Michálek has no trouble to tie the score.

The Middle-Europeans stayed high during the next minutes. They started to shoot frequently. Frolík got a chance to finish a turnover in score after series of two one-timer passes, but missed the net. But neither the Latvians gave up the game, Daugavins had two chances in a row during the 34th minute but the score remained 1-1.

The first minutes of the third period brought a big fight for a puck in the neutral zone with no goal chances. But it was that kind of a fight what you wanted to see from the game's beginning, not the boring game from the first period.

Finally, the first big chance of the third came during the 51st minute. Czech veteran Nedvěd received a long pass from Němec and went into a breakaway. Nedvěd presented a forehand deke and made it 2-1 for the Czechs. The Latvians should gear up to a higher speed-level, but instead of it Berzins obtained an unnecessary 2-minute penalty for charging. With a nice wrist-shot covered over Latvian defender Stoneiks, the Czech captain Plekanec scored the first PP-goal for the Czechs in the tournament and closed the score at 3-1.

It was a hard job for the Czech Republic to win the second game in the Worlds. But for the first time, this group of hockeyists became a team. Currently, with a third spot in the Stockholm group standings and three games to play, the Czech Republic is very close to a quarterfinals ticket. Latvia will defend the fourth place on Sunday in a tough game against fifth Norway. The Norse loses two points on Latvia now.

 

Advanced player search

Tweets by @eurohockey