Adam Jiricek scored his second goal of the tournament at 3:39 of overtime to give Czechia a 2-1 win over Finland this afternoon at 3M Arena at Mariucci. It was a senstional, between-the-legs shot from in close that will be hard to beat as goal of the tournament.

The win puts Czechia in second-place tie with Canada in Group B with five points each, while Finland remains in top spot, with seven points.

"I think this is the first game in the two or three weeks this team has been together that we played really well defensively," enthused coach Patrik Augusta. "We were smart. We were fast. We moved the puck quickly, and we were finishing our plays. You don't want to give the Finns too much room. They are so skilled. It was a tight game, which is what we wanted."

Historically, no two teams in World Junior history are as close as these two. When Czechoslovakia was playing, the teams had an identical 7-2-7 records against each other, and when Czech Republic/Czechia took over, their head-to-head since is 11-2-11. It doesn’t get closer than this.

Both teams now have a day off before closing out the round robin on Wednesday. The Czechs play Latvia that afternoon followed by a much-anticipated Finland-Canada clash.
"We weren't very good in the first two periods," said Emil Hemming. "We didn't keep it simple, didn't work hard enough. But in the third period, when we knew we had to score, we played more the way we know we can play, battling hard, skating hard, getting shots to the net. That was a big goal for us, but unfortunately we lost in the overtime. Still, it was a big point for us."

The game got off in a bad way for the Finns. Just 66 seconds after the opening faceoff, Veeti Vaisanen was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct, putting his team in a hole right away.

Sure enough, 46 seconds later the Czechs opened the scoring when Matej Kubiesa snapped a shot past Petteri Rimpinen. The Finns, however, were perfect the rest of the way, but they didn’t help matters by taking another minor penalty soon after. That, too, they killed expertly, but by spending seven of the first ten minutes short-handed, they had trouble getting into the game.

Both teams settled into a defensive posture in the second, resulting in precious few scoring chances. But Michal Orsulak did have to be sharp on a couple of occasions. He covered a loose puck just in time to thwart Heikki Ruohonen, and a bit later Jasper Kuhta got off a good shot that Orsulak stopped.

Czechia’s best chance came late, while short-handed. Tomas Poletin went in alone on goal but he, too, was stopped by Rimpinen in a period that generated only ten shots (six to Czechia).

The Czechs played a near flawless third period, blocking easy entry into their end and relying on sensational play from Orsulak when necessary. But just when it looked like the Czechs would hang on, Finland tied the game with Rimpinen on the bench.

Leo Tuuva got to a loose puck first behind the Czech net and found Hemming in front, and Hemming made no mistake with a quick snap shot and only 19.3 seconds remaining in regulation.

"It was a corner battle," Rimpnen said, "so you never know what's going to happen. I got down to the goal line and had a lot of space. I just tried to find a spot and got a saucer pass, and I just roofed it."

Augusta calmed his players and put them in the right frame of mind to get the job done in OT, though. "I just tried to pick up the mood," he explained. "It's a hit when you get scored on like that, but they went out there and tried to win it. I told them not to feel sorry for themselves. That's hockey. Those things happen."