Sweden defeat Czech Republic 5-2 at IIHF World Championships
This time out, there will be a new champion at the International Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship as the defending champions, Czech Republic crashed out of the semi-finals.
The Czech Republic was strong throughout the game but they were unable to find the net with the same consistency. Early on, in the second period the Czech’s piled up quite a lot of pressure and got into the lead.
However, the Swedish were able to come back with some impressive play that was led by Patrik Berglund. Sweden was creating plenty of chances and with the dangerous shots they were firing on goal, scoring was inevitable. They scored goals every now and then
with Berglund bagging two goals to win the game for Sweden 5-2 in the end.
Sweden would feel that they have avenged their semi-final loss last year at the hands of Czechs in the semi-finals at the IIHF World Championships 2010.
"I don't think was an upset", Sweden's Robert Nilsson said. "They had a lot of good chances, but we were on the right side of the puck, and our goalie was outstanding, as always".
Patrik Elias scored both goals in the 5-2 loss that the Czech faced. He was in good form and continued to show his dominance after Milan Michalek’s shot was deflected and came in his way. He scored the goal to put the Czechs in the lead.
However, the Swedish came up with a fighting performance that saw them getting into the lead once again and take the score to 4-1.
The Swedish scored a goal to cut the lead to two goals but once again, Sweden scored through Berglund to win the game 5-2 in the end and book a spot in the Final.
"It was a lot of fun", forward Magnus Paajarvi said. "We executed our game plan well. We didn’t give them too much, except for the last goal they got, which was a turnover by us. Other than that we played pretty well, and we’re looking forward to Sunday".
Czech Republic had their share of chances but they were unable to convert them into goals that resulted in a 5-2 defeat for them.
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