Team Czech Republic turned up the intensity in Wednesday's quarterfinal game with Slovakia, after a lackluster preliminary round.

Czechs find their
game, oust Slovakia
By Phil Coffey | NHL.com
Feb. 22, 2006

TORINO, Italy -- After the Czech Republic fell to Canada in the final game of the preliminary round of these 2006 Winter Olympics, Colorado Avalanche forward Milan Hejduk was matter-of-factly positive about his team's chances in the medal round.

"We didn't win a lot of games, but the tournament really starts with the quarterfinals," Hejduk said. "Today we showed some signs of life and if we play well in the next games, we'll be fine."

"It's not that big a deal for us," defenseman Jaroslav Spacek agreed. "We want to win a medal and we are getting stronger. We played well against the Finns and even though we lost against Canada, we gave a good performance. We gave away bad goals at the start, but if we play like we did in the last 40 minutes, then we will be OK."

The Czechs have been a hard team to figure in this tournament, but they made Hejduk and Spacek sound like prophets Wednesday night with a 3-1 victory over Slovakia in the quarterfinals that sets up a meeting with Sweden in the semifinals Friday.

This was no easy victory though. Despite building a 2-0 lead over the first two periods, the Czechs were pressed right until the end by a talented, game Slovak team. Only after Martin Straka of the New York Rangers salted the game away with an empty netter at 19:57 of the third were the Czechs able to relax.

"At the beginning of the tournament we weren't playing as a team," said forward Martin Rucinsky of the Rangers. "We weren't satisfied, but just before the Canada game we sat down and talked about going out and playing our game, playing like we know and since then, we have been building momentum and it carried over tonight."

Rucinsky did more than talk about improving his team's play, he went out and did something about it. With Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Tomas Kaberle in the penalty box for hooking, the Czechs turned the tables on the Slovaks, scoring a shorthanded goal with Rucinsky doing the honors at 12:51, scoring against Colorado Avalanche goalie Peter Budaj.

"I saw it in the corner of my eye," Rucinsky said of the goal. "I was looking for the cross pass. I took a chance, skated in and fortunately I was able to score a goal."

The Czechs went on to dominate the first period, outshooting the Slovaks, 17-5.

"For some reason we had a slow start," Ottawa Senators defenseman Zdeno Chara said. "We were flat-footed. They were skating well and passing the puck and we were just watching."

"They deserved to win," Atlanta Thrasher forward Peter Bondra said. "We beat ourselves in the first period. Maybe the pressure was too much for us and we couldn't handle it, but we won five games as a team and we lost as a team."

"I was looking for the cross pass. I took a chance, skated in and fortunately I was able to score a goal." -- Martin Rucinsky on his first period goal

Hejduk made it 2-0 at 8:41 of the second, converting a rebound in front of his Avalanche teammate, Budaj. That was about it for offense in the second period as the shot total dropped dramatically, 6-5 for Slovakia.

Sensing the end of their tournament, the Slovaks came out hard in the third period. Minnesota Wild forward Marian Gaborik took advantage of a break to make it 2-1 at 3:38 of the third. Coming through the neutral zone with speed, Gaborik was able to take advantage as Nashville Predators defenseman Marek Zidlicky lost an edge and fell, opening up the left side for Gaborik, who spoiled the shutout bid of Milan Hnilicka.

In the final minutes, the Slovaks pressed and pressed and nearly tied it. With under a minute left, Gaborik had a couple of great chances in close. With 26 seconds left, Gaborik, Bondra and Lubomir Visnovsky all stormed the Czech net for a loose puck. Somehow, Hnilicka managed to keep the puck out, if only by inches.

"We can't ask much more of him," defenseman Frantisek Kaberle said of Hnilicka. "He is a great goalie and I think we played a tighter defense in front of him."

"Slovakia is a strong defensive team," Hnilicka said. "But we played outstanding defensively ourselves. We hadn't played well in our previous games, but tonight was so exciting."

"We could win a couple more games, but (in the end) we came up short," Budaj said. "The next chance to play at the Olympics is in four years. We knew we had a really strong team and that we could go far, but, unfortunately, we didn't."

"It's disappointing because we played five games well," New York Islanders forward Miroslav Satan said. "The first two period we couldn't find our gear. We were looking for ourselves."

The Czech Republic is through to the next round and faces a tough foe in Sweden. But now that the Czechs are in the medal round, they feel right at home.

"It's the medal round of the Olympics, so it was a big win for us tonight," Rucinsky said. "And we came together as a team."