Czechs grab vital win, Latvia stumbles against USA

It wasn’t quite ‘winner takes all’, but when Sweden met the Czechs in Group A both teams knew that defeat would push them to the brink of elimination. And it was the Czech Republic that got the verdict, battling back from 0-2 to give its playoff hopes a big boost thanks to a game-winner from Lukas Klok. In Group B, a Miks Indrasis goal was not enough to save Latvia from defeat against the USA, while former Dinamo Riga man Tony Sund scored twice as Finland beat Italy 3-0.

Group A

Czechs rise; Sweden in peril

Sweden 2 Czech Republic 4 (2-0, 0-0, 0-4)

It’s taken some time, but the Czechs have arrived in Riga. A battling come-from-behind win over Sweden propelled the team firmly into the playoff picture, with Neftekhimik newcomer Lukas Klok potting the game winner.

“It was a good play by [Jakub] Kovar there on the faceoff and I was at the top of the faceoff circle and I saw that the shooting lane was open,” Klok said of his goal. “Kuba [Dominik Kubalik] was going to the net to make a screen and it went through, so I was happy.”

That seemed a long way off for Filip Pesan’s team after Sweden jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first period. The Tre Kronor roared into form with a 7-0 victory over Switzerland last time out and continued in that vein at the start of this one. Andreas Wingerli and Rickard Rakell had the Swedish goals as the Czechs found themselves in danger of dropping out of the race for the quarter-finals.

Photo: 27.05.21. 2021 IIHF World Championship. Sweden - Czech Republic

However, a goalless second period enabled them to regroup and two power play goals at the start of the third turned the game around. Jakub Vrana got the Czechs on the board, then Jan Kovar tied it up in the 45th minute. Klok’s tally came less than four minutes later to transform the mood on both benches and Jakub Flek made sure of the win with an empty net goal.

Pesan also paid tribute to Avangard’s Simon Hrubec, whose 27 saves were crucial for his team. “He was great in net and gave us a chance to win,” the head coach said. “At the end, he read the play well on a couple of cross passes and one-timers and the defence helped him a lot with blocks.”

While the Czechs celebrated, Sweden finds itself at the foot of Group A with just three points from four games. The Tre Kronor continue against Great Britain tomorrow knowing that anything less than victory could end their playoff prospects.

Switzerland 8 Slovakia 1 (1-0, 3-0, 4-1)

This World Championship remains as unpredictable as ever. Switzerland, thrashed 0-7 by Sweden in its previous game, took on a Slovakia team looking to move to 4-and-0. The end result was a massive Swiss victory as Slovakia imploded in the second period.

There wasn’t much sign of the carnage to come as Raphael Diaz opened the scoring midway through the first. But in the second, former Avangard man Sven Andrighetto quickly extended the lead and after that the goals kept coming. It finished 8-1 to the Swiss, prompting a three-way tie with Russia and Slovakia also on nine points from four games at the top of Group A.

Group B

USA punishes Latvian lapses

Latvia 2 USA 4 (2-2, 0-2, 0-0)

Miks Indrasis was succinct in his summary of Latvia’s failings after a 2-4 loss against Team USA. The Dinamo Riga man said: “They were nothing special. They’re a good team, they skate well and have good shooters. But we messed it up a little bit in our zone and that killed us.”

The Latvians, looking to secure a place in the last eight on home ice, kept pace with the Americans in the first period. Indrasis himself cancelled out an early goal from Matt Tennyson and later in the frame Brian Boyle and Renars Krastenbergs traded markers as the teams went to the intermission locked at 2-2.

Photo: 27.05.21. 2021 IIHF World Championship. USA - Latvia

But it all went wrong at the midway stage, with Trevor Moore continuing his hot streak before Matty Beniers, the youngest player on the U. S. roster, made it 4-2 less than two minutes later. Messed up, Latvia was unable to respond and the Americans skated through the final frame to take the win.

Goalscorer Krastenbergs was left to lament the second period lapses that cost his team. “They stuck us in our zone for quite some time at the end of that second period; they created some chances in front of our net and scored.”

Latvia goes again against Norway tomorrow, looking to tighten its grip on a playoff place. And the host nation got a further boost today with news that the country’s government has agreed to permit spectators to attend games from June 1 — meaning fans will be in the building for the potentially decisive concluding group game against Germany.

Finns go top after Sund’s double

Finland 3 Italy 0 (2-0, 1-0, 0-0)

In a tournament full of surprises, Finland keeps quietly picking up the points. The defending champion jumped into first place in Group B after blanking an Italian team still seeking its first win. Sibir’s Harri Sateri made 11 stops on the night to post his third World Championship shut-out; previously he silenced the USA in the 2017 quarter-final and backstopped a 7-0 group stage thrashing of Norway in 2018.

At the other end, defenseman Tony Sund scored twice — his first goals in World Championship play — to celebrate his return to Arena Riga. The 25-year-old played here for Dinamo Riga for part of last season, before moving on to Davos in Switzerland.

“Of course, it feels good to get my first two goals, but the main thing is we got the win and the three points,” Sund said. “We have played well so far in this tournament but we have a couple of tough games still left before the playoff games start.

“We have to end this group in a good way and get our focus on the end games.”