After a goalless game in which both goalkeepers dominated, raids had to decide. In the first series, Kaše made no mistake from the backhand bluff, and since Lukáš Dostál caught all four attempts by the Finns, Roman Červenka then ended the skill discipline, who subdued Harri Säteri with a shot to the catcher.
“It would certainly have been better if we had won in regular time. ‘Dosty’ (Dostál) kept us up, luckily we scored a goal, it worked out on the raids,” assessed Kaše, the scorer of the winning goal. “I knew all along that I was going to go. I think we deserved the extra point,” he said of the successful bluff. Kaše also praised the atmosphere in the Prague arena, where 17,413 spectators arrived. “We enjoyed it, it was really cool,” he added.
The Czechs did rejoice once in regular time, but Ondřej Palát’s goal in the 39th minute was called off after a successful coaching challenge by the Finns. After watching the video, the referees concluded that goalkeeper Harri Säteri was blocked illegally after contact with David Tomášek.
In the end, the new father Dominik Kubalík did not imitate the former representative Jakub Voráček, who scored twice and added two assists in the win over Latvia at the 2019 World Championship after returning from the hospital. At the same time, he could decide in extra time.
In the opening game of the Czech team at the home championship, a similar duel was played as at the beginning of May at the Czech Games in Brno. The Finns showed their typical patient game with the defense of the middle zone without significant activity towards the offensive. In the first period, Suomi players occupied Dostál with only one shot on goal, two more attempts from a longer distance went off the post.
The tempo of the game was again dictated by the home team. However, defender Tomáš Kundrátek missed after hugging the goal, David Tomášek’s backhand shot was not caught, and even Libor Hájek’s shot, which Säteri blocked in the last seconds of the first half, did not end in a goal. The spectators in the packed arena were further amused by Radko Gudas, who demolished Mikael Granlund and Tomášek in the last second.
The middle part of the game also took place in a similar spirit. The initial pressure of the Czech team culminated in a chance by Daniel Voženielk, who stretched past the Finnish defender and in front of Säteri, but shot over. Even in the first power play, Rulík’s team did not succeed, Ondřej Kaše found himself in the only significant finish, but he did not catch Säteri by surprise. In the next drive in the offensive zone, Tomášek again shot Säteri’s mask. On the other hand, Arttu Hyry was in the most dangerous position, but he failed in the renumbering three to two.
Finnish captain Mikael Granlund could have opened the scoring after Palát’s goal was called off, but in a power play after a foul by Radek Gudas, he hit the crossbar with Dostál’s goal post. Six minutes before the end, Juha Jääskä made his way into a good position, but the Czech goalkeeper caught him with a catch. David Kämpf could have decided at the end of regular time, but he did not beat Säteri.
In overtime, Granlund was the most threatening in the fading power play, followed by Mikko Lehtonen, but Dostál excelled as well as Jere Innala’s chance. From the Czech team, Tomášek and Kämpf could end the match twice and Kubalík and Kämpf once, but no one prevailed.
