Czechia emerged from Group B in second place and takes on Slovakia, the third place finisher in Group A, in a Thursday quarterfinal at Trio Arena in Vantaa, Finland.
Czechia (2-1-1) claimed a tiebreaker to finish second in Group B at the 2024 IIHF U-18 World Championships. On Thursday, the Czechs open the knockout round with a quarterfinal matchup against Slovakia (1-3-0) at Trio Arena in Vantaa, Finland. The Slovaks emerged from a three-way tie based on a -5 goal differential, with Latvia claiming fourth place in Group A at -8 and Norway dropping to the relegation game with a -21 mark. Czechia’s shootout victory over Sweden on Sunday broke their tie in Group B after it was stunned in overtime by Kazahkstan on Monday.
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Game Date: May 2, 2024
Game Time: 7:30 a.m. ET
TV: NHL Network
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Slovakia poured in five first period goals on Tuesday in an 11-1 rout of Norway to clinch a spot in the knockout round. Tomas Pobezal scored four times and Jan Chovan netted two goals. All of Pobezal’s tournament goals came in Tuesday’s win and vaulted him into the team lead while Luka Radivojevic tops the squad with five points, all assists.
Czechia led 3-2 until Kazakhstan tied the game at 12:45 in the third period and won it with 57 seconds remaining in overtime. Adam Jecho scored two goals in the group stage to lead the team and his three points matches the total from Maxmilian Curran to top the club.
Slovakia medaled twice previously, most recently taking silver in 2003 after winning the bronze in the inaugural 1999 tournament. Czechia, playing as the Czech Republic until 2016, has a silver and three bronzes, claiming its most recent medal when it lost the gold medal game to the United States in 2014, the last time Finland hosted the event.
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