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Penalties: 9:13. PP goals: 1:1. SH goals: 0:0.
Referees: Pražák, Jaroš – Hnát, Svoboda. Attendance: 3126.
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Sweden may have become the first team to beat Czechia in the last group stage game of the Břeclav group, but they will still miss out on the semi-finals. The Czechs, who were supported by over 3,000 fans, move on from top spot and will face Finland.
It only took 38 seconds for the first goal of this tense game to come and to the home team’s displeasure, it was Sweden who broke the deadlock when Viggo Nordlund caught a sloppy pass and sprinted straight for the Czech net and tucked the puck in to make it 1-0. Some nine minutes later, the Swedes found themselves in a 3-on-1 after further bad play from Czechia and Lukas Pettersson had no problem doubling his side’s advantage. Trailing by two, the Czechs upped the pressure in the remainder of the first period but failed to capitalise on a 5-on-3, hit the post and forced goalie Liv to pull off some big saves. Pauses in play were often filled with some pushing and shoving, proving just how big a game this was for both sides. The second period saw more of the same, albeit with some muted emotions and penalties. Sweden’s Melvin Fernström found himself unmarked after returning from the penalty box at the halfway point of the game and with a clear view on net, he had no trouble firing the puck in to make it a 3-0 game. Sweden added goal #4 in the final frame, but the Czechs did get themselves on the board eventually. The first non-Swedish scorer was Jakub Fibigr who scored his side’s first of the game with under five minutes remaining on the clock. The second Czech goal, and last of the six-goal game, came courtesy of Matěj Kubiesa with just over three minutes left. Neither changed the outcome of the tie but helped their side in the overall ranking.Reactions
David Čermák (Czechia): Although we lost, we are happy about the first place in the group with such good opponents. It didn't work out today because we made two mistakes right at the start, which the opponent punished. We lacked power. It was our seventh game in eleven days. On Tuesday, four players did not finish because they were having cramps towards the end of the match. We knew we had to win in this state and we're glad we did.
Johan Rosén (Švédsko): The key point for missing the semis was our loss against the USA. Today, the guys came up with a superb game. We played good offense, scored goals, we took care of the defense too. But unfortunately our time in the penalty bench killed us. It was enough time for us to score more goals 10 minutes left of the game. We had a crystal clear plan but the Czechs managed to overcome it. But I'm so proud of our team.