photo: Chris Tanouye/IIHF
Eduard Sale and Czechia captain Jiri Kulich both had hat tricks to led their team to a confident 8-1 win over Norway tonight at Frolundaborg. It was a 2-1 game early in the second before Czechia pulled away. The win evens the Czech record at 1-1 while Norway drops to 0-2.
Unlike Germany, which made history this afternoon by beating Finland for the first time in WJC history, the Norwegians remain winless all time against the Czechs, now 0-7.
"It was much better than last game," Kulich said, alluding to the team's 6-2 loss to Slovakia yesterday. He also added an assist, to make it a four-point night for the 19-year-old. "We started well enough, not great, but we started to play our game and did some good things. We changed our mindset, tried to get going on the bench and skate hard, but we have to stay humble and keep going. They had some chances, but we recovered nicely. We try to play like one player, be team players and work together. That's the key."
"The game yesterday took a lot of energy from us," acknowledged Norway's coach Christer Nylund of his 4-1 loss to the U.S.. "I think we did a good job scouting them, and we knew they were a bit angry after their game, so we were prepared. There was a momentum change when we had a scoring chance at 2-1, and then they had a three-on-five and scored soon after. It took away our energy. I'm not satisfied with the result, and I'm not satisfied with the end of the game. But the better team won."
Kulich, playing in his third straight World Juniors, opened the scoring for Czechia at 10:30. His wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle went under the glove of Markus Stensrud for the early lead.
Norway had three power plays in the opening 20 minutes, including a 29 second stretch of five-on-three, and although they moved the puck around well, they didn’t cause too much trouble for the Czechia PK unit. Their best chance came late in the two-player advantage when defender Gabriel Koch wired a shot off the post.
Kulich also hit the post on a later power play, and moments later he connected to double the Czech lead. His one-timer squirted under the pads of Stensrud at 17:46 to cap off a period in which Norway held a 13-11 margin in shots on goal.
The Norwegians made a game of it early in the second when Johannes Lokkeberg’s long shot through a screen fooled Michael Hrabal, cutting the Czech lead in half. It marked the first goal Norway had scored on the Czechs since December 26, 1990 (albeit over only three games). But that was as close as the underdogs would come, and the rest of the period was dominated by Czechia, which added three goals to its tally.
They restored their two-gal margin at 12:15 when a long shot from Ales Cech also made it all the way through, and 37 seconds later it was a 4-1 game thanks to Eduard Sale, who was gifted a great scoring chance. Chasing down a puck into his own end, defender Mathias Papuga wheeled and fired a pass that Sale picked off at the top of the crease. He turned and lifted a backhand into the far corner before Stensrud knew what had happened.
Sale got his second of the game with 1:14 left off a scramble in front, leaving little doubt now as to the outcome.
Matyas Sapovaliv added a sixth goal on the power play eary in the third, and Sale completed his hat trick with a slot snap shot on another five-on-four, the team's third PP goal of the game. Kulich got his third soon after off a nice feed from Tomas Hamara.
"We were way better today and happy that we won, but it wasn't perfect," Hamara noted. "We have some things to work on. Yesterday was tougher, but we got the result today. I wasn't surprised it was tight, but we had a lot of o-zone time in the second period and luckily we scored some goals and got more comfortable."
Unlike Germany, which made history this afternoon by beating Finland for the first time in WJC history, the Norwegians remain winless all time against the Czechs, now 0-7.
"It was much better than last game," Kulich said, alluding to the team's 6-2 loss to Slovakia yesterday. He also added an assist, to make it a four-point night for the 19-year-old. "We started well enough, not great, but we started to play our game and did some good things. We changed our mindset, tried to get going on the bench and skate hard, but we have to stay humble and keep going. They had some chances, but we recovered nicely. We try to play like one player, be team players and work together. That's the key."
"The game yesterday took a lot of energy from us," acknowledged Norway's coach Christer Nylund of his 4-1 loss to the U.S.. "I think we did a good job scouting them, and we knew they were a bit angry after their game, so we were prepared. There was a momentum change when we had a scoring chance at 2-1, and then they had a three-on-five and scored soon after. It took away our energy. I'm not satisfied with the result, and I'm not satisfied with the end of the game. But the better team won."
Kulich, playing in his third straight World Juniors, opened the scoring for Czechia at 10:30. His wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle went under the glove of Markus Stensrud for the early lead.
Norway had three power plays in the opening 20 minutes, including a 29 second stretch of five-on-three, and although they moved the puck around well, they didn’t cause too much trouble for the Czechia PK unit. Their best chance came late in the two-player advantage when defender Gabriel Koch wired a shot off the post.
Kulich also hit the post on a later power play, and moments later he connected to double the Czech lead. His one-timer squirted under the pads of Stensrud at 17:46 to cap off a period in which Norway held a 13-11 margin in shots on goal.
The Norwegians made a game of it early in the second when Johannes Lokkeberg’s long shot through a screen fooled Michael Hrabal, cutting the Czech lead in half. It marked the first goal Norway had scored on the Czechs since December 26, 1990 (albeit over only three games). But that was as close as the underdogs would come, and the rest of the period was dominated by Czechia, which added three goals to its tally.
They restored their two-gal margin at 12:15 when a long shot from Ales Cech also made it all the way through, and 37 seconds later it was a 4-1 game thanks to Eduard Sale, who was gifted a great scoring chance. Chasing down a puck into his own end, defender Mathias Papuga wheeled and fired a pass that Sale picked off at the top of the crease. He turned and lifted a backhand into the far corner before Stensrud knew what had happened.
Sale got his second of the game with 1:14 left off a scramble in front, leaving little doubt now as to the outcome.
Matyas Sapovaliv added a sixth goal on the power play eary in the third, and Sale completed his hat trick with a slot snap shot on another five-on-four, the team's third PP goal of the game. Kulich got his third soon after off a nice feed from Tomas Hamara.
"We were way better today and happy that we won, but it wasn't perfect," Hamara noted. "We have some things to work on. Yesterday was tougher, but we got the result today. I wasn't surprised it was tight, but we had a lot of o-zone time in the second period and luckily we scored some goals and got more comfortable."