Were it not for Jakub Vrána’s goal, the Czechs might have pounded on the Swedish defense in vain. “It was he who broke the whole match,” coach Filip Pešán praised the young shooter. The progress to the quarterfinals is now in the hands of the hockey representatives at the World Championships in Latvia.
Riga (from our rapporteur) – At 0: 2 after the second act, the Czechs were close to shame. Such a result would almost block the playoffs.
However, they did not panic in the locker room. They knew that the third third would begin with a numerical advantage. “We talked to the team, almost in a joke that we will score a goal in the power play and then gradually add another one,” said Pešán.
But there were complications. “On the inner circuit, it turned out that, on the contrary, we were playing weakening. So we had to dig through the whole plan,” the coach explained. “But when we went back on the ice, suddenly it was different again. Just chaos.”
But with a good ending. After the break, the power play helped the Czechs, finally they broke through the shooting anguish in it. “She basically saved us. Otherwise, time would shorten quickly,” Pesan acknowledged.
The lucky scorer was Vrána, who exchanged the puck with Matěj Stránský and then, thanks to his screen in front of the goalkeeper, he hit the gallows perfectly.
“He scored a big goal. That’s his job. He’s actually been here since. In the end, he was declared the best player of the match. Great,” said captain Jan Kovář. “We will continue to need this.”
However, the health can betray the crow. He attacked the Swedes with a sore shoulder as the thirteenth assailant.
“Cuba and I have agreed that he will go to the match and I will deploy him according to the situation,” Pešán revealed. “But having him on the switch is a luxury. So I started deploying him more and more in various formations. Especially in the offensive zone. Cuba played for excellent performance. Then there was no chance to get him off the ice.”
Crow shone at the beginning, when he recorded Jiří Sekáč’s chance. In the end, he managed almost 15 minutes, he was the fifth busiest Czech forward. A little surprisingly, he only hit the gate once, but it was worth it.
He was obviously struggling with pain during the race. At one point, the shoulder didn’t even seem to last. “His opponent hit him. We were afraid we lost him. Fortunately, it didn’t happen. In the end, I saved Cuba again to finish in good health. We’ll see how it goes healthier,” said Pešán.
Crow didn’t rejoice after the match.
“I don’t want to talk about it much like this, it’s not 100%,” he told Czech Television. “The medical team here does a great job, helping me a lot so I can play. We’re working on it. I try to keep it up every day. It’s not one hundred percent, but every time I go on the ice, I do what I can.”
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