ARTICLE

Novák´s OT goal gives Czechs 5th place

Aug 9, 2019 | Derek O´Brien

On the power play in overtime, Pavel Novák took a pass from Tomáš Chlubna in the high slot and fired it into the roof of the net to earn the Czech Republic a 4-3 victory over the USA in the game for fifth place at the 2019 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup.

Game #14  •  Fr 9.8.2019  •  15:30  •  Minute-by-minute commentary  •  Video stream
USA
3:4ot
( 0:2, 1:0, 2:1 - 0:1)
Czech Republic
USA:
Czech Republic:
Shots: 26:18 (10:5, 5:7, 11:5 - 1:0).
Penalties: 10:7. PP goals: 0:1. SH goals: 1:0.
Referees: Hejduk, Pražák – Lhotský, Svoboda. Attendance: 723.

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The penalty, Tanner Kelly for tripping, was assessed after a lengthy delay with the referee's arm in the air, and the Czechs had goaltender Jan Bednář on the bench for an extra attacker. They didn't score then, but they did just 25 seconds after it was assessed.

It was the Czechs' second power-play goal of the game on their eighth opportunity, and the Americans also scored a shorthanded goal. There were no goals by either team on the USA's six power plays.

It was the Americans who dominated the early going in terms of possession, keeping the puck in the Czech zone although they didn’t manage any really great scoring chances. Then it was the Czechs who opened the scoring against the grain of play at 7:33 when Tomáš Chlubna found Michal Gut heading hard for the net and the Czech captain made no mistake with the one-touch redirect, scoring his team-high third of the tournament.

The Americans very nearly tied the game while shorthanded just past the first period’s midpoint, but trying to finish off the 2-on-1, Wyatt Kaiser tried to deke Jan Bednář but was denied. The play went back the other way and Tobiáš Handl made it 2-0 for the Czechs, converting a nice pass from behind the net by Štěpán Macháček.

The Americans had two more power plays late in the first period, but were unable to cut into the deficit. They finally broke through shorthanded when Bednář mishandled the puck in front of his own net and Jack Williams intercepted and scored.

The USA had a golden opportunity to tie the game when Bednář was penalized for intentionally dislodging his own net for the second time in the tournament with 13:03 to play. That gave the Americans a two-man advantage for 49 seconds. While they failed to capitalize on that, Cross Hanas got the job done three minutes later, converting a pass from Kelly

The tied score was extremely short-lived, however. Just 17 seconds later, Jan Myšák scored his second of the tournament with 8:12 to go, putting in a rebound after Purcell had made the initial save.

The Czechs could have put the game away when Ben Schoen was penalized for a late hit with 5:34 remaining. However, the USA killed off that penalty and then tied the game up again with 2:25 to play when Noah Ellis found the net from a shot well out, with Bednář partially screened. Despite a late push by the Americans, that was all the scoring in regulation time.

Reactions

Pat Ferschweiler (head coach, USA): “I thought the team played really hard and I’m proud of their effort. I’d like a different outcome, of course, but for the most part they did what we asked and gave it everything they had. Unfortunately, we took a penalty in overtime and the guy made a nice shot. Our last three games ended in overtime or shootout, so this team competed well but we didn’t have a lot of natural goal scorers. You always hope for better, but we were a team for just two weeks and we just wanted to improve each game and I think we did that.”

In brief

Pre-tournament games

21.6. - The final pre-tournament games will be played on Saturday, 29th July. The Czech Republic will host Canada in Břeclav at 18:30 CET, 12:30 ET. Meanwhile, Slovakia will host the USA in Trenčín at 17:00 CET. Coverage of these games will be available at eurolivescores.com/.

Instagram of HGC

1.6. - The official instagram of Hlinka Gretzky Cup is availible here.

Interested in history?

6.2. - Do you know who won the Cup last year? Which team has won the most gold medals? HERE you can review the history.
History of the hockey legend

Information about Ivan Hlinka

More about the legend