Czechia beats Russia in ice hockey

Czechs won 5-4 after making up for losses in an extraordinary third period.

Optimism, disappointment, lack of faith in making up for losses and incredible joy after an unbelievable win are just a few of the vast range of emotions that Czech players gave their fans tonight.

Optimistic start and utter defeat

Before the match, Czechia fans were quite optimistic. The rival was definitely within reach for a hard earned win. Czechs gained an advantage very early in the first period and the crowd at Prague arena went crazy. That gave Russians some anger they needed to recover and bully Czechs 1-3 till the end of the first period.

The second period was totally controlled by Russians. They managed to increase their advantage to 3 goals, making it to 1-4. The arena was silent at that point, with only some Russian fans cheering for the next goals.

Turning point

However, everything changed as players entered the field for the last period. Suddenly, Czechs had incredible energy and agility, flitting in between Russians like it was just some training session. They quickly scored 2 goals and the crowd started to believe they might be lucky for a tie. With 2 minutes of play left, Czechs were just one goal behind and Russians were defending well.

Well, but not good enough as Jarimir Jagr managed to sneak past the defenders, received perfect billard-style pass along a band from his teammate and slipped the puck right underneath the goalkeeper’s butt. The crowd exploded with joy and expressed their desire for a win. The game was resumed and Russians tried to play for time, but Jarimir managed to intercept the pass and sent the puck towards totally unprepared goalkeeper, which passed by him at a stunning 160 km/h and entered the goal right in the top right corner, making it 5-4.

Surely Czech fans will remember that match for a long time.