Czechs win close game against Denmark

Denmark and the Czech Republic had played each ohter in three World Championship tournaments before this one and the Czechs had three straigh wins and a 16-2 goal difference. It was easy who tell who was the favourite in this game. It felt like Denmark needed a good start but didn't really get it when Daniel Nielsen was penalized already after 45 seconds. But the Danes defended well and bounced back into the game after the box play an the first period, that was much more entertaining than the early game, was close even if the Czechs had a few better chances than the Danes.

Denmark got a great chance to take the lead with a five on three power play for 1:23 but despite big pressure on the Czech net they failed to beat Jakub Kovar. But Denmark continued to play well after the goals and it felt like this would be Denmark's game. But after just being full strength from a late penalty in the second period the Czechs opened the scoring with only five seconds left. It was Ales Hemsky who beat Andersen from close range.


Ales Hemsky was the one who saved the Czechs.
Photo: Roman Kucera

Denmark continued to play good in the third. After nine minutes Jannik Hansen was close with an individual effort but Kovar saved it. At this moment of the game it felt like the Czech Republic was pleased with defending their lead and going on counter attacks. And the usual strong Czech defense made it more and more difficult for Denmark to creat chances in front of Kovar. The few created was often by Jannik Hansen who was given the best player award together with the Czech goalie Kovar. "We played a good game and had our chances" Hansen said about the game. About the quality of the Danish team he said "It's a much deeper team now. It's basically the same guys as four years ago but everyone is more experienced now and play in better leagues".

And with 2:39 left to play Petr Tenkrat killed Denmark's hope of any points in this game beating Andersen with a quick shot after the puck went clear after being blocked against the boards for a longer sequence. "We were lucky to win today. Hopefully our confidence will go up after this" the 2-0 scorer said about the game. "Denmark played a very good hockey game. There were times, when they did not allow us to clear the puck from our defensive zone" he added.

Just seconds after 2-0 Zdenek Kutlak was lead of the ice after a tackle from Jannik Hansen and the Czechs finished the game on a power play.The final score was 2-0 to the Czechs a pity for the Danes who made a very good game. "We played a very good game but I'm very disappointed", Denmark's coach Per Bäckman said after the game and added "If we played better on power play we would have got three points". About the next game against Italy he said "I think we will have 70 % of the puck possession, it will be a different game. But if we can continue like this it will be a fun tournament for the Danish fans".

The Czech coach Alois Hadamczik wasn't so pleased with the game. "It was a difficult game for us. Every game is different, I look forward to the next one and I'm happy if we can win that 2-0", he said with a smile. The Czechs need to improve their game if Hadamczik is to keep smiling. More NHL reinforcements is coming to the team that only dressed 18 skaters today.

 

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