Two goals enough for the Czechs against Italy

The first period saw one team dominate as the Czechs were much better and outshots the opposition 15-2. The Italians did try hard and were even closer to opening the score than Team Czech Republic as Christian Borgatello fired one on Alexander Salák and hit the post. Salák was given another opportunity to start after Jakub Kovář did so in the previous game against Canada.

After Roman Polák, another Czech St. Louis Blue is out with an injury as Vladimír Sobotka had to be scratched for the game. Despite that, the team still managed to send fifteen shots on Daniel Bellissimo and he was perfect in the opening frame as he stopped all of them and let none into the back of the net.

The Czech domination wasn't as big in the second as it was in the first period, but nobody could deny that they in fact kept on being the much better team. And, there is a more important thing than domination and that is score.

You need more goals than the opposition to win the game and three minutes into the frame, the Czechs made a significant step towards achieving that. Jiří Sekáč carried the puck into the zone and fired a shot that avoided Bellissimo's glove and found the back of the net. The score was opened and it looked like the Czechs had no more reasons to worry.

But Team Italy is that kind of a team that gets a big chance every period or two and as they almost beat Salák in the first period, they almost did so in the second frame again. This time on a penalty kill when Brian Ihnacak carried the puck into the zone, got denied by Salák and so did, thankfully for the favorited team, the rebound by Trevor Johnson.

The third period was pretty much the same as the first forty minutes of the game with the Czechs trying to conquer Bellissimo's net for the second time and Team Italy looking to get an opportunity to tie things up from counter-attacks.

And that almost happened as David Borrelli and Anton Bernard came very close to tying with their respective point-blank shots, but Salák was stellar in the game and would end up stopping all eleven shots he had to face.

Jaromir Jagr scores 2-0.
Photo: Roman Kucera

With less than five minutes left in the third, it was all over as Bellissimo allowed second Czech goal of the night and there was no thinkable way for the Italians to come back into this one. Jaromír Jágr was the one who sealed the deal after Roman Červenka got denied and then passed it to number 68 on the rebound. And so the Czechs get three points for the first time on the tournament.

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