Czechs start World Juniors with OT win over Swiss

The 2019 World Juniors got underway in Vancouver, Canada on Wednesday with the Czech Republic edging out Switzerland by a score of 2-1.

The point for the Swiss could be what keeps the team in contention for the quarter-finals, as they’ll be in tight in a battle with Denmark to avoid relegation.

It took nearly half the game for either team to find the back of the net, but the Swiss would break the deadlock at 27:45 on the power play. After a couple of passes around the zone, Nando Eggenberger would make it 1-0, taking Sven Leuenberger's fanned shooting attempt at the side of the net, jamming it past Lukas Dostal on the slight wraparound to make it 1-0 Swiss.

But 77 seconds later, the top line for the Czechs would answer back. Martin Kaut would score after taking a pass from Martin Necas and somehow squeezing it between the left arm and leg of Luca Hollenstein, tying the game up at one apiece.

The Czechs were the better team on paper and with the puck, but they nearly found themselves going down goal heading into the second intermission. The Czechs avoided disaster by killing off a 5-on-3, taking eight penalties through two periods of play to give the Swiss some chances.

Each team had some good scoring chances in the third period, but for the most part, it looked the two teams were just playing for a point. The Czechs came very close to taking the lead with six minutes left in the third when Krystof Hrabik’s shot hit the post on an odd-man chance, with the game remaining tied in the final minutes of regulation.

The Swiss went 1-for-7 on the power play overall, and those missed opportunities would allow the Czechs to get their momentum back. A minute in to the third period, David Kvasnicka scored after a tiring shift, sending a floater from the point that beat Hollenstein from the point, going top corner to give the Czechs the 2-1 victory ot kick off the tournament.

The Swiss won’t get much time to rest, as they’ll face Canada in a 5:00 PM PT battle tomorrow afternoon. The Czechs, however, will wait until Friday for their next contest, a 5:00 PM challenge against Russia.

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