Czech Republic first team to the semis

The quaterfinals are where these two teams mostly go and sometimes they get beyond that stage, while other times it is the end of their journey at the World Championship. Both Czechs and Americans know both situations well and now for the third time in three championships, Team USA coach Peter Laviolette meets the Czechs.

The first period saw a couple of goals, but not before both goalies made some critical saves. Alexander Salák entered the game as starter and he would have to face a big shot by Seth Jones in front of the wide-open net, but the Texas-born defenseman fanned on it. On the other side, Jaromír Jágr looked to beat Tim Thomas early, but the Texas-based goaltender closed the door.

The first goal came just seven minutes in when Peter Mueller ripped one on a man-advantage and Brock Nelson was right there in front of Salák to tip it into the back of the net and open the scoring. The Czechs wanted to answer right away, but Roman Červenka's backhander got stopped by Thomas and so it was Tomáš Rolinek who tied things up on the rebound after a shot by Jan Kovář.

Rolinek scores.
Photo: Roman Kucera

The Americans could score again after a bad giveaway by blueliner Petr Zámorský, but the duo of Tyler Johnson and Nelson on the shot failed alone in front of Salák who didn't even have to make a save. And finally, to beat the buzzer, it was Jágr who looked to beat Thomas and he managed to do that with the puck on the doorstep, but Dan DeKeyser saved the day blocking the shot on the goal line.

The second period initially looked like more of the same and Jan Kovář was close to giving the Czechs a lead, but he missed the wide-open net. On the other side, Johnson received the puck in a great position, but fired one into Salák so the score remained tied.

Then, a high hit by US captain Justin Abdelkader on Sobotka changed the flow of the frame as the Michigan native was given five and a game for charging and the Blues forward left the game with an injury. Ten seconds after that, Tomáš Hertl did exactly what you should do with a powerplay as he capitalized on a rebound.

Just twenty seconds later, Červenka scored a goal as well, but it was ruled no goal after all as he kicked the puck into the net. Hertl then tried to change the score, but Thomas came up with a huge glove save on the shot from a point-blank range and then Červenka was in a similar situation and this time buried it past Thomas to give the Czechs a two-goal lead.

It was all Czechs and they could have scored more with Jágr setting up Červenka in front, but that wouldn't go on as the latter had no time nor space. But Thomas did allow a fourth goal and it happened after a long shot by Ondřej Němec through traffic in front. The Americans looked to get back into this one and the fourth line had a great shift, but both Hayes brother and Drew Shore got denied by Salák who had another big game at the Chizhovka-Arena.

Going into the third with a three-goal deficit to erase wasn't a situation the Americans hoped for before the game. First of all, Martin Zaťovič could have scored on a shot from between the circles, but he missed the net. Then, Tommy Wingels sent a wrister right into Salák's glove. And after that, the Americans kept on pushing with Salák having to make more stops against Matt Donovan and Jimmy Hayes.

Thomas was great on the other side as well, stopping many shots by Červenka and also coming up big against Hudler midway through the third. And so with Jakub Klepiš going into the box with about three minutes left, Peter Laviolette decided to go for it and pull Thomas for an extra attacker.

And his players delivered. Tyler Johnson first scored on a one-timer from the left circle and Salák had no chance as he saw nothing and just couldn't get over in time. Thomas stayed in the net and Johnson added another goal, this time on a shot from a point-blank range, cutting the lead to a single goal. 

Six on five, the last minute was as hectic as they come with the Americans pushing hard and the Czechs defending. Jones tried to beat the buzzer with just a second or two left, but Jan Kolář made a huge block to deny the shot and so the Czechs hung on to their one-goal lead.

In the semifinals, Team Czech Republic will face either Canada or Finland.

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