By Canadian Press

Spacek’s late goal lifts Czech Republic over Finland 2-1 at world juniors

Dec 26, 2016 | 3:30 PM

MONTREAL — The Czech Republic has already caused its first surprise at the world junior hockey championship.

A goal with 1:18 left in regulation time from Michael Spacek lifted the underdog Czechs to a 2-1 victory over defending champion Finland in the opening game for both teams at the under-20 tournament on Monday night.

Spacek fired a high shot through traffic from the blue line that found a way inside the post.

“It was a good goal, it was special in my career,” said Spacek, a Winnipeg Jets prospect now with the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels. “I think we played good. We played like one man.”

“It was a big win for everyone here.”

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Daniel Krenzelok also scored for the Czechs, who are seeking their first world junior medal since they took Bronze in 2005. That was their only hardware since winning back-to-back gold in 2000 and 2001.

And the Czechs had not looked particularly dangerous in their pre-tournament games, which included an 8-0 loss to Canada.

But they checked hard, forced many turnovers, and found the goals they needed against a Finnish side that struggled to put two passes together. After the game, they were heard singing and chanting on the way to their dressing room.

“The important thing was that we scored a goal, which lifted up the mood on the team and we got more confident,” said Czech coach Jakub Petr, whose team had not found the net in any of its exhibition games. “The other thing was we stayed with the game plan.

“We knew they have a pretty good transition game. They go straight through the neutral zone and are always driving the net. And they scored so many goals in this age group. So we were pretty solid on the defensive side. And a crucial thing was we stayed out of the penalty box. At the under-18, they scored five goals out of six on power plays, and it was the same last year at under-20.”

Only three minors were called in the game, two of them against the Finns.

Joona Luoto scored for Finland, which has won two of the last three world juniors including last year at home.

The Czechs outshot Finland 30-23.

“We didn’t play our best game but there’s still a long way to go so I’m not too worried,” said Finland defenceman and Vancouver Canucks prospect Olli Juolevi. “There were some good things, but you have to improve your game all through the tournament.”

Each team scored in the first period.

Martin Necas, expected to go high in the NHL draft in June, got the puck to the left point where Krenzelok’s weak shot went off Veini Vehvilainen’s glove and dropped into the net at 4:27.

Luoto, a fourth-line checker, got it back at 8:46 as he picked up a turnover in the neutral zone, bulled past a defenceman and beat Jakub Skarek inside the post from a tight angle.

The Czechs and Skarek, a goalie who wears No. 2, shut them down the rest of the way.

“We just couldn’t play our game and couldn’t score,” said Finland forward Eeli Tolvanen. “We had a lot of chances and couldn’t get the puck in the net. It was tough.”

Finland (0-1) plays Denmark (0-1) while The Czechs (1-0) face Switzerland (0-0) on Tuesday.

Bill Beacon, The Canadian Press