After the Czech Republic and Switzerland lost their 2019 U18 openers, both were hungry for points in Group A. On Saturday, the Czechs were hungrier, hammering the Swiss 8-2 to put some distance between themselves and the Finns, who have dropped two straight.
The Czech power play was sizzling, capitalizing three times. It was a strong return to form for coach Alois Hadamczik’s boys after falling 4-3 to Belarus in their Umea debut. It was also a confidence boost heading into Sunday’s battle with the defending champion Finns.
"It's a big win for us today," said Martin Lang, who scored twice. "We lost the game against Belarus, so we were a little bit sad. Today we saved it for the game we had to win, because we want to win this group and continue to the quarter-finals. "
The Czechs outshot the Swiss 59-43.
Expectations were not ultra-high for this year’s crop of Swiss players. Yet let’s keep in mind that even during the three U18 appearances (2015-17) of Nico Hischier, the 2017 #1 overall pick of the New Jersey Devils, the team peaked at fourth (2015) and came eighth twice (2016, 2017).
Bottom line: never is this age-restricted tournament a cakewalk for Switzerland, which also lost 7-4 to Canada. It’s not going to get easier. Next up is still-undefeated Belarus on Monday, followed by the Finns on Tuesday."It was difficult," said Swiss defenceman Denys Rubanik. "We had all the penalties. We just didn't skate a lot. It wasn't our game. Definitely it wasn't our game."
The Swiss stumbled at the start – literally and figuratively. When defenceman Inaki Baragano fell down at his own blue line, he desperately swung his stick and took a tripping minor. On the ensuing power play, 2002-born wunderkind Jan Mysak squeezed a shot through Swiss goalie Andri Henauer’s pads, and Filip Koffer poked the puck in for his first goal of the tournament at 2:01.
Geneva-based preacher John Calvin may have railed against sin in the 16th century, but Geneve-Servette U20 forward Matteo Valenza went to the sin bin for tripping Michal Teply, and the Czechs went to work again with the man advantage. Yet this time the best chance went to Ronny Daehler, who got behind the Czech defence shorthanded, but couldn’t fool netminder Lukas Parik.
At 7:21, the Czechs got a two-goal lead, thanks to Marcel Barinka’s beautiful, sneaky pass from behind the net to Adam Raska, who zipped it home before Henauer could say “Boo!” In all, coach Thierry Paterlini's team was outshot 20-5 in the first period.
"Our coach said to have more patience in the game, to enjoy the game more and play as a team," said Czech assistant captain Martin Has. "We did that today"
In the second period, the Swiss meltdown due to poor discipline continued. At 1:18, Lang scored on a 4-on-3 man advantage, with Filip Prikryl providing the screen.
"I think we worked on the power play really well on the video at the hotel," said Has, who drew the assist on the goal. "We said who plays what, and we had to have a guy on the net. I think that worked really well. That's why we scored on the power plays today."
Just 1:22 later, Adam Rutar made it 4-0 Czechs with a centre point howitzer on another power play. That was it for Henauer, who was relieved by Noah Patenaude between the Swiss pipes.
The Swiss power play finally got some revenge with a two-man advantage. Rubanik scored his second goal of the tournament from the centre point, beating Parik high to the glove at 4:44. But when Jeremy Zuercher busted in solo off left wing a few minutes later, the Czech goalie foiled his backhand attempt.
With 1:26 left in the middle frame, Jakub Rychlovsky restored the Czech four-goal lead, finishing off Koffer’s cross-ice pass on a 2-on-1. The Swiss weren't playing lazy hockey, but their energies were all too frequently misdirected.
Regarding the lessons that the Swiss need to take from this game and apply against Belarus, Rubanik said: "Never give up. Always play hard. Move our feet. Take less penalties."
It only took 32 seconds for the Czechs to score in the third period. Prikryl set up Lang. The Kamloops Blazers forward eluded his check as he hustled to the net for his second of the game and a 6-1 lead.
At 10:52, Daehler surprised Parik with a floater from the blue line to make it 6-2. Yet no miracle Swiss comeback was in store before an A3 Arena crowd heavy on NHL scouts.
With 8:10 left, Adam Najman converted a rebound for a 7-2 edge. Koffer, who finished with three points, rounded out the scoring in a goalmouth scrum at 16:22.
"The three points are really good for us," said Parik. "We are just preparing for Finland now and I hope we win against them."
Historically, Switzerland and the Czechs have a surprisingly even U18 World Championship rivalry. This was the seventh Czech win in 12 all-time meetings. The last Swiss win came in 2012.
