Ondřej Palát doesn’t get to represent his home country as often as he’d like. He’s been fortunate throughout his career often be on NHL teams that went deep into the playoffs. this is just the second IIHF World Championship for the 33-year-old, who also played in the 2014 Winter Olympics. 

“I was out of the playoffs and it’s always a dream come true to play the Worlds in Czechia, so it was an easy decision and it’s been so much fun,” said the New Jersey Devils left winger.

Palát had a goal and an assist in Czechia’s 6-3 win over Norway on Saturday. On Tuesday, Palát duplicated that feat in a 7-4 win over Denmark.

“Not a bad game,” was Palát’s assessment. “There’s room for improvement but we’re happy with the three points.”

Despite the Czechs having a decisive edge in play over the first 45 minutes of the game, the score was tied 3-3. Was frustration beginning to set in?

“No, not really,” he responded. “We were talking about staying confident on the bench and we did. We played our game, played our system and eventually the goals came.”

Did they ever. Tomáš Kundrátek, Dominik Kubalík and Matěj Stránský all struck in less than five minutes to open up a three-goal lead for the Czechs. Palát assisted on the fifth goal – the eventual game-winner.

“Gudy (Radko Gudas) just chipped it into the neutral zone and I didn’t do much,” Palát began. “Kubalik and Tomáš (David Tomášek) were flying, so I just wanted to give them a little bit of time and then they were open. They played it great.”

Then with the score 6-4, Palát finished the scoring with 6:53 to play. It was a long shot through traffic that was originally called back for a goal-crease infraction, but after a video review, the goal was allowed.

“It didn’t look like much,” said Palát. “Tomáš was there but he was out of the crease so I knew right away it was going to be a goal.”

And so, the Czechs now have points in each game, and Palát is happy with how the team is coming together.

“Everything is awesome,” he said. “We’re a good team.”