Czechia failed to beat tournament hosts Sweden, falling 5-2, meaning they will not return to the gold medal game for the second consecutive year at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC). Sweden and Czechia faced each other in the semifinals last year, and Czechia won in overtime. Czechia were 0-1-1 to begin the tournament and looked like they weren’t going to be as dominant as they were at the 2023 WJC but triumphed over Canada in their quarter-finals matchup against Canada, where they won on a shot by Jakub Štancl, which deflected off Canadian defenseman Oliver Bonk’s stick for the game-winner with 11 seconds left in the third period. Advancing and beating Sweden in the semifinals would assure them they could win it all this year.
In this game, Czechia and Sweden were even within the first two periods as Czechia opened the game with a goal by Matyáš Melovský off a behind-the-net pass by Sebastián Redlich at 6:55 in the first period. Then, at 11:52 in the first Sweden responded with a shot from the blue line by Theo Lindstein, which bounced off of Michael Hrabal’s glove and went in to tie it at 1-1. Going into the second period, Axel Sandin Pellikka got Sweden’s first lead of the game at 2:35 in the second. Five minutes later on the power play, Tomáš Cibulka ties the game for Czechia off a nice one-time feed by Adam Bareš.
Sign up for our NHL Prospects & Draft Substack newsletter
Finally, in the third period, Czechia suffered a penalty and Sweden took the lead on the power play with a goal by Jonathan Lekkerimaki at 5:14. Noah Ostlund received a breakaway chance at 12:00 in the third and scored to make it 4-2 Sweden. Sweden then got the closing goal with another goal by Lekkerimaki, assisted by Ostlund and Otto Stenberg a minute later at 13:02.
A Strong First Two Periods for Czechia
Czechia played a tight first two periods against Sweden and appeared to give them a hard time in the first period with the opening goal and getting a lot of shooting opportunities in their zone. Despite that, Sweden and Czechia were not far off from each other on shots with the first period going 8-6 in shots for Czechia and then Sweden going 10-9 in shots in the second. For most of the tournament, we’ve seen Czechia get in close to the net and find holes in that area, which is where most of their goals have come from. Adapting to Sweden’s lack of coverage in the front and around the passing lanes helped them get some strength.
Melovský has been amazing this tournament from a playmaking perspective, but his opening goal was his first of the tournament, and did a great job in this game, taking more shooting opportunities for Czechia when he was needed. Eduard Šalé was also playing well on his line today with Melovský and earned the assist on the opening goa,l as well, but his ability to open up the ice within the first two periods stood out the most. However, with the way they started the game, there was a lot of room for Czechia to gain complete control over Sweden and score more goals than they had originally scored. Credit goes to Hugo Hävelid for putting up with Czechia’s attacks in the first and second periods.
No Sign of Kulich When Needed
In a crucial matchup like this that could get Czechia to back-to-back finals appearances, the top players usually tend to be in the spotlight. In this case, a lot was expected from Jiří Kulich, who stood out for Czechia in last year’s tournament and did the same in this one, leading Czechia in points (nine) for the entire 2024 WJC. However, in this matchup, he was unlucky to get a point despite getting five shots on the net in the game, he could not capitalize on his chances. Kulich wasn’t present against Czechia’s toughest opponents this tournament, such as Slovakia, USA, and Canada.
Last year, Kulich had also finished with nine points but scored against Sweden to get Czechia into the finals and then open up the game for them against Canada in the gold medal game. Sweden covered Kulich very well in this game, and he was definitely on their site after ending their tournament last year. Kulich was Czechia’s best player going into this tournament, as he was the only one on the roster who had played his first NHL game and had played professionally at the American Hockey League level for a handful of games. Despite the loss, he will finish as a top-three player on Czechia’s roster in this tournament and could finish the tournament with a few more points in the bronze medal game.
Czechia Collapse in the Third Period
What looked like a tight game at the beginning did not end well for Czechia and could’ve been better judging by their first two periods of play. Czechia finished the third period getting outshot 15-8 by Sweden and allowing three consecutive goals in under 10 minutes. What also didn’t help was the penalty they allowed late in the game, which sparked the 3-2 lead for Sweden, and from there they took off. In the third period, Czechia looked extremely tired from holding off Sweden as they were getting intercepted a lot, and one of those giveaways caused the Ostlund breakaway goal to make it 4-2. The third period was a chasing game for them, and Sweden got the best of them in their zone, fighting every chance they had in front of the net.
Related: 2024 Guide to the World Junior Championship
Going into the tournament, Czechia had a lot of back-and-forth games where they had to claw for every goal they scored, part of it could be because they lost one of their best defenseman, Adam Jiřiček. Jiřiček was injured on Dec. 26 when he was hit into the board’s leg first and held his right leg, then re-aggravating it late in the third, which confirmed him out of the game for good. If Jiřiček was there, there is no doubt they would have a little more to work with on the penalty kill and probably would’ve been able to push further into the game. However, it was surprising enough to see Czechia last that long without him, even in the Canada game during the quarter-finals. Czechia’s tournament isn’t over yet, as they still have the chance to play for bronze on Friday (Jan. 5).
