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Posted: Sun February 22, 1998 at 3:10 a.m EST Czech Republic 1, Russia 0 --------------------------The Czech Republic captured its first hockey gold medal and its only gold medal of the Nagano Olympics as Petr Svoboda scored in the third period and Dominik Hasek recorded his second shutout of the tournament, 1-0 over arch-rival Russia. The former Czechoslovakia won four silver medals and three bronze in hockey, losing to the Soviet Union in the gold medal game three times. But the underdog Czechs were able to complete their Cinderella run through hockey's first "dream tournament" behind the goaltending of Hasek and an opportunistic offense. Hasek finished with 20 saves but was rarely tested over the final 30 minutes as the high-powered Russians were repeatedly frustrated by a tight Czech defense. Svoboda finally broke through at 8:08 of the third period. Off a faceoff, winger Martin Prochazka tapped the puck back to the left point. Svoboda fired a slap shot that deflected off a Russian defender's skate and tipped off goaltender Mikhail Shtalenkov's glove before finding the net. It was the first goal of the tournament for Svoboda, a veteran defenseman who injured his right elbow in Friday's semifinal win over Canada and was questionable for this game. Russia mustered few scoring chances over the final 12 minutes, even after pulling Shtalenkov for an extra attacker with 40 seconds remaining. Any final opportunity Russia may have had was negated when Sergei Fedorov dumped the puck into the Czech zone and was called for icing with 13 seconds left. The Russians, who entered as the last unbeaten team in the tournament, had a couple of good chances early. Hasek slid to stop Valeri Kamensky, who broke down the left side on a 2-on-1 with 16 minutes to go in the opening period. Pavel Bure, coming off a five-goal performance in the semifinals against Finland , was stopped twice in the span of a minute midway through the period. Jaromir Jagr, the Czechs' top offensive threat, was a Russian target throughout. He took a pass from Robert Reichel with four minutes to go in the first period and broke up the middle but skated in too deep and was stopped by Shtalenkov's stick. Late in the period, Jagr was shaken up after he was elbowed in the face by defenseman Alexei Zhitnik. Limited to six shots in the first period, the Czech Republic began to get more chances in the second. Josef Beranek came in 2-on-1 with Jagr, but his centering pass was broken up by Darius Kasparaitis with 18 minutes left. Vladimir Ruzicka's backhander from close range went wide with 13 1/2 minutes to play in the period, just moments before Hasek stopped the Russians' best chance of the game. Alexei Yashin sent a behind-the-back pass to a wide-open Andrei Kovalenko, whose point-blank shot was stopped by the stick of a lunging Hasek. Jagr broke through the Russian defense midway through the second period and rang a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle off the right goalpost. The Russians were 0-for-4 on the power play and nearly gave up a goal while Svoboda served an interference penalty. Czech center Pavel Patera, whose faceoff win set up Svoboda's winning goal, came in on a breakaway, fanned on his first shot but got off a weak backhander that was smothered by Shtalenkov. The Czech Republic began asserting itself in the third period, nearly scoring with 12 minutes remaining when Beranek led a 3-on-1 break. His slapper from the left circle was stopped but he got to the rebound and was alone on Shtalenkov in front. The Russian goaltender would not commit, however, and Beranek flipped a backhander off the right post. Hasek allowed only six goals in six games, stopped an astounding 149 of 155 shots and helped the Czechs avenge their only loss of the Olympics, a 2-1 setback to Russia in the final preliminary-round game for both nations. Shtalenkov made 20 saves for Russia, which was bidding for its ninth hockey gold medal. It was Russia's second loss in a gold medal game, the other coming against the United States at Lake Placid in 1980. The former Soviet Union has gone consecutive Olympics without a hockey gold medal for the first time since it began participating in the Winter Games in 1956.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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