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Day 1: Fast Start Enough to Hold off Czechs |
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A four-goal barrage over a dominating first 25 minutes of play was enough for Tre Kronor to hold off the Czech Republic by a 4-2 count on the opening day of Olympic preliminary round play in Sochi.
A pair of goals by Erik Karlsson (one even strength and one power play) paced the Swedish attack. The Karlsson goals were sandwiched around individual tallies by Patrik Berglund in the latter part of the first period and a Henrik Zetterberg tally 50 seconds into the middle stanza.
Henrik Lundqvist turned back 27 of 29 shots to earn the win for the Swedes. Tre Kronor was outshot by a 22-16 margin over the final 40 minutes of the game -- including 15-5 in a third period that saw the Swedes kill three separate minor penalties -- but Lundqvist came up big when he was needed.
The first period and early portion of the second stanza saw the Swedes dominate in all three zones.
Twenty-five year old KHL goaltender Jakub Kovar, whose NHL rights still belong to the Philadelphia Flyers, started in goal for the Czechs. He was pulled after Henrik Zetterberg scored from distance to make it a 3-0 game at the 50-second mark of the middle period. Kovar stopped 7 of 10 shots before being pulled.
The 25-year-old Kovar has had a tremendous season in the KHL this season for Yekaterinburg and has emerged in recent years as one of the better goalies in Europe. He had a rough outing today, though, looking very small in his net. He did not look good on either the Berglund and Zetterberg goals.
After Kovar was pulled, SKA St. Petersburg goaltender Alexander Salak came in for the rest of the game. He yielded a heavily screened power play blast by Karlsson on the first shot he saw, but was not beaten again on the next 14 shots he faced.
Once the Swedes opened up the 4-0 lead, they checked out (no pun intended) a bit mentally. Their puck management and coverages deteriorated, and the Czechs crawled back into the game.
After Marek Zidlicky ripped a partially screened shot past Lundqvist high to the short side, ageless teammate Jaromir Jagr cut the deficit to two goals with 29:59 remaining in regulation. On the second goal, Jagr one-handed a shot from in close that slid over the goal line. Tre Kronor coach Pär Mårts argued that crease interference by Tomas Plekanec should have wiped out the goal, but the tally stood after a replay delay.
The Czech had their chances to draw back within a goal, especially during three power play opportunities in the final stanza, but Lundqvist slammed the door.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson notched a pair of assists for the Swedes in 18:13 of ice time. Nicklas Bäckström, Daniel Sedin, Gabriel Landeskog and Niklas Kronwall also earned helpers in the game. Lundqvist was credited with the secondary assist on Berglund's goal.
Tre Kronor is idle tomorrow but will hold practice. The team returns to action on Friday with a game against Switzerland. The Swiss, whom the Swedes beat in the gold medal game of the 2013 IIHF World Championships, are coming off a 1-0 win over Latvia in their opening game. Although the Swiss team typically struggles to scratch out goals, they usually play solid team defense and receive strong goaltending.
Friday's game will begin at 7:30 a.m. eastern U.S. and Canada time. The game will be televised in the United States on NBC Sports Network.
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