PRAGUE, 26 April 2004 — The Czech Republic served notice on Saturday they will be a force at the world championship, opening the tournament with a dominating performance in a 3-1 win over Latvia.
Finland fell behind early and then scored four unanswered goals to beat the United States 4-2, while Germany needed two late goals to break a deadlock with Kazakhstan and post their own 4-2 victory.
In other action, Sweden skated past Denmark 5-1.
With home ice advantage, many top Czech players opted to play for their country despite a long NHL season, making them favorites to dethrone Canada and take the title.
Little went wrong in their first outing as Los Angeles Kings center Martin Straka scored twice and Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Jaroslav Spacek added another in the first period. Grigorijs Pantelejevs got some consolation by breaking Tomas Vokoun’s shutout with less than a minute left and the outcome all but decided.
The Czechs’ high-powered offense, led by New York Ranger Jaromir Jagr, peppered 38 shots on goal and could have easily had many more goals if not for the heroics of Latvian goalie Edgars Masalskis.
The United States gave Finland all they could handle for 50 minutes before succumbing. Washington Capitals forward Jeff Halpern and Buffalo Sabre Chris Drury staked the US to a 2-0 lead in the first period. But the Finns fought back with two second-period goals before Lasse Pirjeta scored a pair in the final 10 minutes.
