Defensive duel

Sweden takes control of Group C with 2-1 win over Czechs

Tommy Salo made 37 saves and has allowed just three goals in Sweden's two games. AP

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (AP) -- The Czech Republic hockey team knows it's in trouble or doing something very wrong when star goalie Dominik Hasek disgustedly slams his stick on the ice.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

The Czechs heard so much pounding Sunday, Hasek probably wore out a stick or two.

Tommy Salo outdueled Hasek in a matchup of gold-medal goalies and Sweden beat the defending Olympic champion Czechs 2-1 for its second consecutive impressive victory.

Mats Sundin scored his third goal in two games and Kim Johnsson had a power play goal as Sweden -- following up its unexpectedly easy 5-2 decision Friday over Canada -- opened up a 2-0 lead, then weathered two strong final periods by the Czechs.

The Swedes took what the Czechs gave them -- or more accurately, what generating traffic in front of Dominik Hasek yielded them -- which wasn’t much in the tilt’s second half. No matter on this night, as Tommy Salo made the two-goal harvest look bountiful. Click here for more from Eliot.

"It's very early in the tournament, but we've played two very good teams and we have four points," Sundin said. "We have to be happy, it's a good start for us, but that's all it is."

"We knew he [Sundin] was going to be our go-to guy," right wing Daniel Alfredsson said. "He's our best player, there's no doubt about it. It's not really a surprise. He's been scoring more in the NHL than he has been in the past few years. He's so dangerous 1-on-1 and he has a great shot. Hopefully, he can keep it going."

Salo made 37 saves, all but seven after the first period, as the Czechs came at him in waves of scoring attempts.

"He played even better than he did against Canada, especially in the third period when they had a lot of scoring chances," Sundin said. "He won the game for us."

The victory all but assured Sweden and its innovative "torpedo" system of winning its four-team pool, with the United States likely to win the other pool. If it beats Germany on Monday, Sweden probably will play Belarus in the quarterfinals.

"We set ourselves up for a big game [Monday] night [against Germany]," Swedish defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom said. "If we win that, we'll finish at the top of our group and end up playing the fourth seed. So that will be huge for us. We wanted to finish on top."

The loss likely sends the Czechs to a more difficult quarterfinal draw against Finland or Russia, but does not necessarily endanger their chances of repeating. They lost to Russia 2-1 in 1998 before rebounding to beat the United States, Canada and Russia to win the gold.

From Sports Illustrated • Ivan Maisel: Cross-country team blazes new trail • SI Daily: Dance Fever • Medal Picks: Predicting the top 3 Features • CNNSI.com's Darren Eliot: Canada-Germany Analysis | Sweden-Czech Republic • Daily Digest: Sunday's Recap • CNN Student News: From Salt Lake • Schedule & Results | Medal Tracker From Time • Nancy Kerrigan: Rules need to be changed • Complete Coverage: Time goes to Utah From CNN/Money • Chris Isidore: Olympics' no-name sponsors • Special Coverage: Olympics Inc. Multimedia • Video: Olympics Report: Day 10 • Video: Surprise finish • Photo Gallery: Day 10 | Archive • Video Archive: A collection from the Games

"I think we have as much talent as we did in 1998," said Hasek, who made 20 saves but spent considerable time pounding his stick so loudly that it echoed around the E Center.

Hasek was the best player in the Nagano Olympics, giving up only two goals in those last three games while making one remarkable save after another. But on Sunday, he was not as good as Salo, who led Sweden to the 1994 gold medal.

"I'm not upset at the way we played, I don't think we played badly, but we scored only one goal," Hasek said. "I'll hit my stick when I don't like what I see in front of me, or maybe we should be in a different position."

Sweden's torpedo system calls for two forwards to fly along the boards of the wide international ice as a defenseman jumps into the middle. But it didn't create the long outlet passes or repeated odd-man breaks against the Czechs as it did against Canada.

Still, Sweden got off to an impressive start, with Johnsson scoring at 4:45 of the first by one-timing Nicklas Lidstrom's pass off Hasek's right leg pad and the post. Sundin made it 2-0 early in the second period by pouncing on a loose puck along the left wing boards and wristing it through traffic past Hasek.

Sundin, the Swedish captain, also had a goal waved off because forward Tomas Holmstrom interfered with Hasek in the crease.

Jiri Dopita cut the lead to 2-1 by scoring unassisted at 10:23 of the second, grabbing his own rebound and wristing it past Salo. But, despite being cheered by a predominantly pro-Czech crowd that waved flags, chanted soccer songs and serenaded its goalie with choruses of "Ha-sek!, Ha-sek!," the defending gold medalists could not get the tying goal.

Czech star Jaromir Jagr, who had two goals Friday in an 8-2 victory over Germany, took seven shots and barely missed scoring twice.

Sweden seemed in great shape to add on to its lead when the Czechs' Martin Havlat drew a five-minute penalty and was ejected for boarding Michael Nylander with 7:44 remaining. However, Sundin short-circuited the long power play by twice drawing penalties, for roughing and holding, leaving the teams at even strength for most of the five minutes.

Sweden's play so far has been all the more surprising because it is without its best player, Peter Forsberg, who recently had surgery. The loss was only the 17th in the Czech Republic's last 77 games in world-level play.

 

Related information
Stories
Men's Olympic Ice Hockey Standings Sweden shocks Canada 5-2 in opening game of Group C Jagr's Capital struggles end in Czech jersey Czech Republic routs Germany 8-2 on Jagr's three points
Multimedia
Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video
Search our site	Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day
	Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV.