When David Krejci beat Latvian goalie Edgars Masalskis with a wrister halfway through the overtime period, the Czech Republic team didn't display any type of exuberant celebration. In fact, they seemed more relieved than happy about the win.
Relieved they didn't let bottom-seeded Latvia stun them, when it seemed all but in the bag after the Czech Republic had a 2-0 lead midway through the first period.
After Tomas Fleischmann scored to make it 2-0, the Czechs might have sat back a bit. And honestly, it worked for a while. There were no goals scored from nine minutes left in the first period until just under eight minutes left in the third, when Latvia finally broke through.
Four minutes later, they scored again thanks to Mikelis Redlihs and some lively boards. And all of a sudden, the Czech Republic was on edge, and Latvia could smell blood. You could see the difference in the Czechs play after the tying goal; it certainly woke them up.
Those same lively boards almost cost the Czech Republic the game in overtime, as a shot that went wide hit off the boards and hurtled directly at Tomas Vokoun's left ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Doug Gausepohl
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February 24th, 2010 by Doug Gausepohl Leave a reply »
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