Czechs shut down Slovaks to make quarterfinals

The Czechs had been upset with their lacklustre start in the game they lost against Germany to make this game against Slovakia a must-win. Today, there was no such let down, as they came storming out of the gate in both the first and second periods.

"Oh yeah, for sure," said Czech captain Petr Sidlík, when asked about his team's start. "We knew that was important today and look what happens -- we get a goal on the first shift."

Czech coach Miroslav Přerost started the game with Dominik Šimon centring David Pastrňák and Martin Prochazka, and they rewarded his decision with a goal after just 18 seconds. Pastrňák won a battle for the puck in the corner, passed up the boards to Prochazka and went to the net to take the return pass, where he beat Slovak starting goalie Samuel Bartoš.

"When we found out we were starting we wanted to win the first shift," said Pastrňák. "One shift, one goal, so when you don that, of course you're very happy when you go back to the bench.

The game was 2-0 before the four-minute mark, when Ondřej Kaše blocked a Slovak shoot-in attempt and worked a give-and-go with Jan Košťálek, beating Bartoš on the backhand.

With the start they wanted, the Czechs had to play defence. The other three teams in the group all had trouble keeping the trio of Martin Réway, Milan Kolena and Dávid Gríger off the scoresheet, but the Czechs kept them to just one goal the entire game, including a five-on-three for 1:02 late in the first period.

"They played a really good game," Réway said of the Czechs. "There just wasn't a lot of room to move out there today. I don't think we played that bad today, but the start . . . We were behind two goals quickly, and it's a lot harder to try to create scoring chances when you're playing from behind. You just try to force it too much."

"Of course we knew that we had to be careful about them," said Šidlík. "They got the one goal, but we just had to stick to our game and not get out of position. The penalty killing -- that was perfect today."

The Czechs got two more goals in the first seven minutes of the second period, both with Šimon, Pastrňák and Prochazka on the ice. The first one, Šimon picked off a horrible Slovak pass up the middle and fed Prochazka, after which Bartoš was pulled in favour of Richard Sabol. 

Sabol couldn't prevent the fourth Czech goal -- in fact, he couldn't even see it, as Šidlík blasted the puck from the point on the power play through the forest in front.

"That's exactly what was missing against Germany and we had to do today," said Šidlík, discussing the improvement of the power play from yesterday, when they had lost of shots but no goals. "Lots of traffic in front, a perfect screen and I don't think he could even see that shot."

"Today we just worked hard and tried to pressure their defence," said Pastrňák, who led the Czechs with a goal and two assists in the game. "That caused some turnovers, and today our line got three goals. Next game it might be another line, you just have to work hard and you never know."

At the other end, Marek Langhamer was solid, stopping 31 of 32 shots, with the team doing a good job of keeping the front of the net clear. The only shot that beat him came in the dying seconds of the second period, when the puck came to Kolena at the side of the net and he fired it home before the Czech goalie could come across.

The Slovaks tried to open things up in the third period, which led to the teams trading odd-man rushes, but no goals were scored, as the Czechs punched their ticket into the quarterfinals. Despite the loss, Slovakia will also play in the quarterfinals, finishing fourth.

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