Czechs halt Sweden, advance to SF

Team Czechia is on its way to the medal round for the first time since 2015 after beating Sweden in Thursday’s first quarterfinal. The Swedes, silver medallists last year, drop into the placement round at the weekend, just as they did after their previous run to the final in 2018.

Before this game, Sweden earmarked the partnership between Djurgarden IF duo Tereza Plosova and Adela Sapovalivova as the key threat from the Czechs. However, identifying a problem is not the same as solving it: that pair combined for three goals to send the Czechs into the last four. Sweden’s Isabella Leijonhielm had a goal and an assist in reply, but finished on the losing side.

An entertaining and hard-fought first period exploded into life in the 15th minute. First, Leijonhielm carried Ebba Hedqvist’s pass over halfway and found the ice opening in front of her. She kept going, left Klaudia Slavickova in a spin and flipped a backhand shot past Aneta Senkova to open the scoring.

That triggered an instant response from the Czechs. Within a minute, Czechia was level and Sapovalivova had her sixth goal of the tournament. It started with Plosova surging down the right wing and releasing a shot that rattled goalie Maja Helge and ended with the Czech captain rifling home in a goalmouth scramble.

Then Plosova put her team in front on 17:47. Once again, Czech persistence in front of the net paid off: Adela Fromova’s point shot was padded away, but the forwards swarmed into the danger zone and prevented Sweden from clearing its lines. Anezka Cabelova regained possession, bore down on goal and dished off a pass to present Plosova with a straightforward finish over the sprawling Herge. That took her to 6 (1+5) points in Zug.

The second period continued in similar fashion, with chances at both ends. Helge made a big save when Karolina Skorepova found space in a central position; the Swedish goalie slid across her crease to get behind the shot. At the other end, Hilda Svensson had a similar opportunity but her attempt suffered a similar fate as Senkova gobbled up a glove save.

Both teams had their first power play opportunities in the middle frame, and both sides produced impressive penalty kills to protect their respective goalies.

The Czechs had seen a winning position evaporate earlier in this tournament, blowing a 2-0 lead against Finland in its opening game. There was a sense of déjà vu when Sweden raised the tempo in the third and drew level. Leijonhielm was the architect with…