Nedved’s goal gives Czech Republic the win

09 Nov 2012 | Henrik Lundqvist

Czech veteran Petr Nedved scored the only goal when Czech Republic beat Finland in Karjala Tournament for the first time since 2007. The Czech's now have 6 points in 2 games and a good chance to win the tournament.

After today's 1-0 against the host Finland in Karjala Tournament (EHT) the Czech's will only need one point in tomorrow's game against Russia to secure the tournament win.

The Czech goalie Ondrej Pavelec had to make 27 saves for his team to win.

"Incredibly difficult", he says. "Such a technical team as Finland on large ice, they played really fast."

Petr Nedved scored the only goal of the game on a nice individual move two minutes before the end of the first period. The Finnish team had a hard time to unlock the Czech defense, but in the third period they played quite well.

In the final minutes Finland had several chances to score it, including a shot off the bar 12 seconds before the end, but the Czech's kept the net clean to win their second game in Karjala Tournament.

"The players put all their effort into the game, they dived into shots, fought all the way through the game and kept the defensive shape... apart from last 5 mins when the pressure was enormous", says the Czech assistant coach Josef Palecek to Eurohockey.com

Tomorrow Czech Republic will play Russia about the tournament win. Finland will play the arch rival Sweden.