The Czech Republic jumped into an early 2-0 lead against Japan in game one of their best-of-three relegation series and skated to a 6-0 win this afternoon in Obihiro.
 
The result means the Czechs are a win away from booking a date to the 2020 WW18 and the Japanese must now win two in a row or be relegated to Division I-A for next year.

Japan continues to be plagued by a lack of scoring. In four games they have scored only four goals and surrendered 14. 
 
Daniela Pejsova scored just 3:07 into the game to get the Czechs off to a good start, and Adela Skrdlova made it 2-0 just 59 seconds later. 
 
The Japanese didn’t help their cause by taking the only two penalties of the period, giving their opponents all the chances and the momentum.
 
The Czechs doubled their lead in the second on two late goals. Tereza Mazancova converted a nice pass from in close by Kristyna Kaltounkova at 15:25. The Japanese, though, had a great chance to give their fans hope when they were awarded a penalty shot. However, Akane Shiga was stoned by Julie Pejsova to keep it a 3-0 lead.
 
And then, to make matters worse for Japan, the Czechs added a fourth goal at 16:58. This time Mazankova knocked in a rebound from the side of the net.