After showing up to the party late in their first game of Olympic play, with Sweden taking a 4-0 edge in what ended as a 4-2 loss, a quick start from the Czech Republic proved crucial in their 4-2 win over Latvia, giving them a 1-1 record through two games in Sochi.
The Czech Republic opened up the scoring 10 minutes into the first behind Martin Erat’s first goal of the Olympics off a beautiful feed from David Krejci. Erat, a player who’s had a miserable year in Washington, snapped a 55-game goalless drought in his final game prior to the Olympic break, with today’s marker giving him two goals in the last three contests.
Then the game took an undoubtedly silly turn...
Swarming Ondrej Pavelec and company in the Czech Republic zone, Janis Sprukts looked to score Latvia’s first goal of the tournament. The puck appeared to go into the back of Pavelec’s cage, but as referee Tim Peel said nay, play continued until a Martin Hanzal penalty forced a stoppage. Then, with a review confirming that Sprukts did in fact score, with the puck hitting the NBC camera inside the net, the game was tied, and Hanzal remained in the box. He was in the box for a penalty that technically -- with the game clock readjusted back to when Sprukts scored -- had not yet happened. A penalty’s a penalty, yeah, but Tim Peel and company pulled a McFly, fired up the DeLorean, and put the Latvian squad in prime position to take the lead.
Everybody, including the officiating crew, looked puzzled by the call. I don’t know if because of sleep deprivation or not, but I’m still kinda fuzzy on it the more I think about it. .
A stranger sequence may not be found in this tourney.
But as the Czechs killed off the penalty, a Mikelis Redlihs double minor put the puck on the stick of a player skating in his fifth Olympic games. With enough time and space to work his laser, the 42-year-old Jaromir Jagr wristed home his second goal of the tournament and the ninth of his Olympic career, reestablishing the Czechs’ one-goal edge. Skating back to the room with Jagr’s squad holding a 2-1 edge through 20 minutes, a goal 2:45 into the second period put the Czechs and Latvians back at a tie, with Herberts Vasiljevs beating Pavelec off the post and in.
Attacking the Czech defenders with a hard forecheck and board battles, the Latvians put up a strong fight, but proved incapable of hanging with the litany of NHL talent on the Czech squad.
A nasty one-handed tip from Jakub Voracek put the Czechs back in front, and a goal from Marek Zidlcky made it 4-2 in favor of the experienced Czechs.
With 4:42 left in the third, a 57-second 5-on-3 advantage put Latvia in the position to draw closer to the Czechs, but a one-shot run and equally frustrating 1:03 of a 5-on-4 gave the underdog Latvian squad nothing to cheer about, by all means sealing their fate on the night.
In the first Olympic start of his career, the 26-year-old Pavelec did his job in the sense that he won a game that he’s supposed to win. Pavelec has been dubbed the Achilles’ heel of a veteran Czech squad by most given his rather mediocre career figures in the NHL, and while he wasn’t a standout tonight from a wow standpoint, he didn’t stand out in a negative light either. Finishing the night with 18 saves on 20 shots, Pavelec seems like the guy (at least for now) for a Czech club that yanked Jakub Kovar after surrendering three goals on 10 shots against Sweden in their first contest.
Despite the regulation win, today was far from perfect for the Czech Republic. This is a roster featuring 17 NHL players, and they were going against a goaltender that hasn’t played a single game of professional hockey this year in Edgars Masalskis. The Czech defenders were once again exposed as being the slow-skating, non-physical defensive core that they are, this time attacked by the Latvians’ physicality. Sweden took it to them with skill and skating in the first game, and Latvia did it with grit today. It’s something that’ll leave their goaltender out to dry against the top dogs.
And what’s coach Alois Hadamczik’s plans for David Krejci?
The top-scoring Czech player in 2013-14 with 50 points for Boston this season, Krejci’s seemingly become a third-line player for the Czechs through two games in Sochi. On a line with Milan Michalek and Ales Hemsky, Krejci almost never started a shift in the attacking zone, with the team’s fourth line of Frolik-Hanzal-Nedved starting in the Latvian with more frequency than the Krejci line. Oh, and No. 46 isn’t even on the club’s top power play unit. Huh? What’d he do?!
If the Czech Republic wants production out of Krejci (which they should given his resume not only this year, but in all big game situations), they’re going to have to, y’know, put him on the ice.
The Czechs are back at it on Saturday when they take on Switzerland.