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The first game of the afternoon schedule in Zlin was not only a battle on the floor but also a tough battle in the seats as the fans of both teams made a really loud atmosphere. The Swiss players won their first match against Poland and hoped to get another victory. For the Czechs, this game was a tournament opener.
The game was really quick from the very first seconds. Both teams made up several good opportunities so the goalies had to keep paying attention. The key part of the first period that set the story for the rest of the match came in the 13th minute as the Czechs scored two goals within 17 seconds. The home team got up on the board thanks to Ondrej Hubalek who fired the goaltender Nicolas Jordi. Just a few seconds later, Jan Stromko made a tricky move along the defenders, sent the ball towards the goal and Jaroslav Svoboda scored on the rebound.
The Czechs became the more dangerous team in the second part of the game and they scored their third goal early in the period. Jan Cejka made a clever, long move that got the Swiss goalie down to the ground and scored into the empty part of the net. Switzerland tried hard to achieve their first goal of the game but all of their shots went either wide, or right into the gear of goalie Vladimir Sidlo. The Czechs on the other side kept scoring goals – Vojtech Kopriva and Michal Machacek made it 5–0 still before the second break.
The Czech offensive performance culminated in the third period. Jan Skorcik scored early in the third with a long shot from almost the red line. Tomas Fic made it 7–0 just a few minutes later after getting a quick pass off the corner. And finally, five minutes before the end the Czechs scored two goals within one weakening. First, Michal Machacek sent the ball into the net on a breakaway. A few seconds later, the pressure of Ondrej Novak in front of the goal became successful as the forward got the ball behind the line.
