Slovenia stuns Czechia in overtime thriller at Ice Hockey World Championship
Slovenia stunned Czechia in their opening game at the men's Ice Hockey World Championship in Switzerland, beating the favourites 3:2 in overtime.
Keeping their nerve, the relentless Lynx scored one of their biggest victories ever, defeating the 2024 world champions after five straight losses in head-to-head matchups, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.
The game winner was scored by Marcel Mahkovec 74 seconds into extra time.
Goaltender Lukaš Horak, the Czech who obtained the Slovenian passport last year, shone in the net, stopping 32 shots from his compatriots.
Slovenia's defence also did a good job, blocking twenty shots. Overall, shot attempts were 34-17 in favour of Czechia.
The latter got their first power-play opportunity two minutes into the game. But it was Slovenia who scored the first goal on their first power play through Matic Török.
After falling behind in the second period, they rallied in the final period when Anže Kuralt tied the game at 2:2.
They managed to force overtime, which Mahkovec decided after beating Czech goalie Dominik Pavlat in a one-on-one situation.
"It was certainly a good opener for us, but we haven't accomplished anything yet; we'll need to earn more points to stay in the elite division," the hero of the game, Mahkovec, told TV Slovenija in his first comment.
"The win confirms we can compete with anyone," he added, but cautioned that they must not rest on their laurels.
Slovenia will play six more games in the group stage, the first on 17 May one against Norway, who lost their opener 1:2 at the hands of Slovakia. The sole goal for Norway was scored by Tinus Luc Koblar, an 18-year-old Slovenian rookie on the national team of his adopted homeland.
Slovenia's main goal at the tournament is to stay in the company of the elite 16 national ice hockey teams for the third year in a row. This means they must not finish last in their group.
After Czechia and Norway, they will also play Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Slovakia and Italy in the group game until 26 May. The top four teams from each group advance to the quarter-finals.
Photo: AI
