Czechs & Swedes Win, Kubalík Scores Twice To Open Swiss Ice Hockey Games

The second leg of the 2024-25 Euro Hockey Tour – the Swiss Ice Hockey Games – opened up on two fronts on Thursday night, with Czechia defeating Finland 3-1 in Pardubice and Sweden beating host Switzerland 4-1 in Fribourg. The remainder of the tournament will be in Fribourg on Saturday and Sunday.

See the rosters of the four teams here:
CZECHIA – FINLAND – SWEDEN - SWITZERLAND

The first leg of the Euro Hockey Tour was last month’s Karjala Cup in Helsinki, Finland, which the Finns won on home ice. The Euro Hockey Tour standings are cumulative, with all teams now having played four games. The standings are now: 1. Czechia 9 points; 2. Finland 8 points, 3. Sweden 4 points, 4. Switzerland 3 points.

Czechia 3 – Finland 1 (1-0, 1-1, 1-0)

Dominik Kubalík scored once in the first period and once in the second, each assisted by Jiří Smejkal, to give the Czechs 1-0 and 2-1 leads in front of a sell-out crowd of 10,194 in Pardubice. On the first goal, he took advantage of some miscommunication between two Finns in the neutral zone, burning past both of them to get a partial breakaway. The second, he took a centering feed from Smejkal in the slot and fired a shot under the arm of Emil Larmi.

“I won't lie, I thought about a hat trick,” Kubalík told Czech media post-game. “It seemed like I had a couple of good chances. They forgot about me in front of the net once, but it didn’t work out. Maybe next time.”

Harri Pesonen scored the lone Finnish goal on a power play early in the second period to tie the score, and Matěj Stranský put it away for the Czechs with a late empty-netter.

Sweden 4 – Switzerland 1 (0-0, 4-0, 0-1)

After a scoreless first period, the Swedes did all the damage in the middle frame, striking four times in a span of 10:53. Jacob de la Rose and Lucas Wallmark both scored power-play goals with Sebastian Hartmann and Mathias Bromé doing so at even strength.

Gregory Hofmann thought he’d got one for Switzerland on a second-period power play but it was negated by a quick whistle. Dario Simion finally broke Lars Johansson’s shutout with 4:51 to play. 

Switzerland’s Denis Malgin was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct in the first period when he caught Swede Jesper Frödén – his ZSC Lions teammate – with an elbow to the head in the first period.