Czechia and Slovakia have delivered a ton of drama to begin this tournament. Czechia has twice been the underdog in taking down the US and Sweden in its two opening games. Yesterday it defeated the US 3-2 in overtime, then followed it up with today’s 2-1 defeat of Sweden. Although accomplishing the feat in regulation today, the tilt against Sweden was no less hotly-contested. The game wasn’t decided until d-man Jakub Venecek (#31 North American skater; WHL Tri-City) scored with 21 seconds remaining in the third period. It has been a total team effort for the Czechs thus far, as no one on their roster has scored more than goal.
Slovakia pulled off a huge upset of its own yesterday, taking down defending two-time gold medalist Canada 2-1. Like the games involving Czechia, this contest was extremely competitive until the end. The game was tied all the way through (0-0 after one then 1-1 after two) until Slovakian forward Timothy Kazda (2027 draft-eligible; Boston College commit) scored with just over 11 minutes remaining.
Slovakia currently leads Norway 6-1 in the third period. Should they prevail, the Slavic countries will be a combined 4-0 to begin this tournament.