U.S. tops Czechs for second in Group B

U.S. tops Czechs for second in Group B on Tuesday

ByDanny Wild

Published 08:55, 21 May 2025

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In a penalty-laden and heated affair, Frank Nazar scored two third-period power play goals to lift the U.S. to a 5-2 win over Czechia on Tuesday. The Americans finish second and the defending champion Czechs third in Group B at the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.

Particularly dominant in the first and third periods, the U.S. out-shot the Czechs by a whopping 56-27 margin on the night. Czech goalie Karel Vejmelka was strong to give his team a chance. The result leaves Switzerland in first place in Group B with 19 points ahead of Thursday's quarter-finals.

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Josh Doan, Logan Cooley, and Andrew Peeke had the other goals for the Americans. The game featured three lead changes.

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Top Czech scorer David Pastrnak added a goal and an assist and leads the tournament with 14 points. Martin Necas also scored for the Czechs. It was a rude awakening for the defending champs as they lost their first game of this Ice Hockey World Championship.

This was an all-NHL affair in net. In addition to the Utah Mammoth's Vejmelka, Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins made 25 saves for the Americans.

In front of a packed, heavily pro-Czech crowd at Jyske Bank Boxen, the teams came out with intensity. Scrums broke out between whistles. Pastrnak was assessed the game’s first minor for roughing to the crowd’s great displeasure, but Vejmelka was ready with the glove when U.S. assistant captain Conor Garland tested him from the left faceoff circle.

Coach Ryan Warsofsky’s squad picked up the pace. The Czech netminder couldn’t corral the rebound when Peeke wristed the puck from the right point, and Doan backhanded it home for a 1-0 U.S. lead at 9:25. Doan, a 23-year-old Utah teammate of Vejmelka's, is the son of former Canadian Olympian Shane Doan, who won two Ice Hockey World Championship gold medals (2003, 2007).

Coach Ryan Warsofsky’s squad picked up the pace. The Czech netminder couldn’t corral the rebound when Peeke wristed the puck from the right point, and Doan backhanded it home for a 1-0 U.S. lead at 9:25. Doan, a 23-year-old Utah teammate of Vejmelka's, is the son of former Canadian Olympian Shane Doan, who won two Ice Hockey World Championship gold medals (2003, 2007).

Coach Ryan Warsofsky’s squad picked up the pace. The Czech netminder couldn’t corral the rebound when Peeke wristed the puck from the right point, and Doan backhanded it home for a 1-0 U.S. lead at 9:25. Doan, a 23-year-old Utah teammate of Vejmelka's, is the son of former Canadian Olympian Shane Doan, who won two Ice Hockey World Championship gold medals (2003, 2007).

When this tournament first came to Denmark in 2018, Patrick Kane scored the third-period winner as the U.S. edged the Czechs 3-2 in the quarter-finals. In 2023, Czechia hammered the Americans 8-4 for bronze. And last year in Prague, before winning gold at home, the Czechs eliminated the U.S. 1-0 in the quarter-finals on Pavel Zacha’s goal and Lukas Dostal’s 36-save shutout.

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