Set up by Tomas Kundratek after an offensive-zone draw, the Boston Bruins superstar hammered home a one-timer from the left faceoff circle, his favourite spot. It was Pastrnak’s first goal of these Worlds, breaking a four-game drought, and couldn’t have come at a better time.
David Kampf added an empty-netter in the final minute. Goalie Lukas Dostal recorded his tournament-best third shutout with 31 saves.
The tension was off the charts at the O2 Arena, where a capacity crowd of 17,413 topped off a tournament-attendance record of 797,727. Czech fans will never forget Sunday night, wherever they were. This was among the tightest finals in Worlds history.
It’s the first Czech gold medal since 2010 (Cologne) and 13th of all time. The last Czech medal was bronze in 2022 (Tampere).
Sweden (2013) and Finland (2022) earned home-ice gold in the 21st century. In the 20th century, Czechoslovakia (1947, 1972, 1985) and the Soviet Union (1973, 1979, 1986) pulled it off. So the 2024 Czechs are in exclusive company.
This was a duel between the top two Worlds goalies statistically in Dostal and Switzerland’s Leonardo Genoni. Prior to the final, Genoni, 36, amassed a 1.45 GAA and 93.4 save percentage with one shutout, while Dostal, 23, had a 1.80 GAA and 92.8 save percentage.
The Swiss twice settled for the silver medal in the last decade, losing to Sweden in both the 2013 and 2018 finals. This year, coach Patrick Fischer iced a cohort of elite NHLers, including captain Roman Josi, Kevin Fiala, and Nico Hischier, and they played up to their potential. This silver is still a major achievement for them, but feels more disappointing than before.
Switzerland’s Andres Ambuhl, 40, became the oldest player ever to win a silver medal at the Worlds. The HC Davos captain played his 141st career World Championship game in his 19th Worlds, both all-time records.
In an O2 Arena shaking with thunderous pro-Czech chants, horns, and drums, the teams set a furious pace in the penalty-free first period. Nearing the six-minute mark, forward Ondrej Beranek was so fired up that he accidentally leaped into the Swiss bench while trying to keep a puck in the attacking zone.
Midway through the first, the top all-NHL Czech line generated the first great chance off the rush. Pastrnak fed Boston teammate Pavel Zacha and he found Ondrej Palat on the doorstep, forcing Genoni to come across and foil the New Jersey veteran.
The Czechs continued to press, but Genoni’s vigilance was undeniable. Meanwhile, on a savvy Swiss counterattack, Christoph Bertschy sizzled a shot off Dostal’s right post.
Just before the halfway point, Swiss rearguard Michael Fora went off for holding Palat behind Genoni’s net. Yet the Swiss goalie frustrated both Pastrnak and Martin Necas on power-play one-timers. Switzerland’s penalty kill has been surprisingly weak, ranking 15th out of 16 teams prior to the final, but delivered here.
Caution dominated the third, neither side wanting to make that fatal mistake. After a big Palat hit on Andrea Glauser cracked the glass, the Czech fans took advantage of the delay for repairs to hop up and down. The physicality continued as Gudas sent Ambuhl head-over-heels by the benches with a Niklas Kronwall-style hit.
After Pastnark’s go-ahead goal, the Swiss pushed for the equalizer. Bertschy nearly fooled Dostal with a tip in front of the net. Fischer pulled Genoni for a sixth attacker with just over two minutes left in regulation. However, Kampf won a foot race to tuck in the empty-netter with 19 seconds left.
The Czechs previously had a golden generation that kicked off with their stunning gold medal at the first “NHL Olympics” in Nagano in 1998, spearheaded by legends like Dominik Hasek and Jaromir Jagr. That paved the way for a slew of World Championship triumphs including1999-2001, 2005, 2010. Now a long rebuilding process is finally bearing golde
Czech captain Roman Cervenka, who led his team with 11 points, is the only remaining player from the 2010 gold-medal team.
In the group stage, Switzerland beat Czechia 2-1 on Philipp Kurashev’s shootout goal. The gold medal game was certainly unlike the 7-3 Czech semi-final romp over Sweden.
Among the noteworthy roster moves, Kurashev returned to the Swiss lineup, taking Sven Jung’s place after being a healthy scratch for three straight games. Czech defenceman Jan Rutta was suspended due to an elbow on Sweden’s Isac Lundestrom in the semi-final.
Switzerland built an earlier medal-winning tradition from the 1920’s to the 1950’s. It included two Olympic bronze medals (1928, 1948), a World Championship silver medal (1935), and six World Championship bronze medals (1930, 1937, 1939, 1950, 1951, 1953). But gold remains elusive.
Could this be the start of a Czech dynasty? Stay tuned. The Czechs will aim to defend their title at the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship co-hosted by Sweden and Denmark (Stockholm and Herning, 9 to 25 May).