Czechs and Swiss fine-tune for quarterfinal opponents

They both gained a point that neither necessarily needed coming in, but the game allowed each team to gain some confidence. That is until Switzerland took a penalty for slashing one minute into overtime. There it was the Swiss who gassed up on confidence in killing off the penalty.

There was little more to decide in Group A action in Prague this evening, but for Czech fans, that made little difference whatsoever. They came in droves to see their beloved national team and if you had any doubts of about how much they love them, you wouldn’t after having heard Jaromir Jagr’s name announced. It was a deafening cheer that could likely be heard all the way back at downtown Vaclavske Namesti.

In fact, over 17’380 fans made their way into the arena, meaning that the site was officially sold out.

Things got off to an exciting start and although the Swiss were showing a good bit more hop than they had in several other tourney contests, it was the Czechs who had the better of the opportunities throughout the 1^st.

The first period proved to be quite a power play show between the two nations who have played some tight games in recent years. In all, the Czechs had two power play opportunities to four for the Swiss. This would play a decisive role in the outcome of the period.

Much to the ire of the very loud Czech fans, Switzerland gained a two-man advantage with just three and a half minutes to go in the first period. Used carefully and with a plan, a one-time shot by Nashville Predators prospect Kevin Fiala – himself of Czech decent – made its way through the legs of Czech goaltender Ondrej Pavelec to give the Swiss a 1-0 lead with power play to go.

Not able to capitalize, they were soon given another power play on a holding call right in front of the Czech bench. The Swiss ended the first and began the second with this man advantage, but to little avail.

The second period played host to a continually lively crowd and chances were had by both teams. Very big was Pavelec’s stop of a Damien Brunner breakaway after about eight minutes of play. Back and forth action rarely led to a very strong scoring opportunity, as either the goaltenders or defending players continually got pieces of passes and shots.

Speaking of which, both teams had taken 18 by the end of the second.

A tripping call against Switzerland at the 16:15 mark of the third gave the Czechs a long awaited power play opportunity. It led to nothing more than more frustration.

The period dwindled down and Czechs seemed to run into an iron wall again and again until Martin Zatovic had his shot slightly deflected and go over the shoulder of Swiss netminder Reto Berra, bringing the arena to pure eruption. At that point, there were still just under 10 minutes left to play.

The now very awoken Czechs kept the pressure coming, much to the delight of the hometown crowd. Every opportunity earned a wave of cheers and Switzerland could do little more than battle to get the puck out of their zone.

Earlier goal scorer Fiala was given a crosschecking penalty with a little under six minutes to go in the period, which appeared to give the team a decisive advantage until Tomas Hertl took a penalty while battling in front of the Swiss goal, reigning in a 4-on-4 situation.

Again, Berra was called upon to make a number of saves as the Czechs became relentless. Waves of Czech attacks were warded off by the Swiss and the ‘Eidgenossen’ managed to push the game to overtime.

The Swiss will now head off to Ostrava to face off against the USA in quarterfinal action while the Czechs – although 3^rd in Group A – will remain home in Prague to play Finland.

Tweets by @eurohockey