In front of an excited home crowd, Czechia eliminated Team USA today in the quarterfinals of the World Hockey Championships.
As it was in the NHL regular season, Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk produced an impressive personal performance, but the team he led is going home early.
Boston Bruins forward Pavel Zacha scored the only goal of the game to give host Czechia a 1-0 win over Team USA on Thursday at the World Hockey Championships. Czech goalie Lukas Dostal of the Anaheim Ducks was phenomenal, making 36 saves for the shutout victory.
The Americans haven't won gold at this tournament since 1933, and this is the earliest they've been going home in five years. After the Senators missed the playoffs for a seventh straight year, this wasn't the silver lining experience Tkachuk had hoped.
"It sucks," Tkachuk told the IIHF website. "We came here to win gold, so it's tough to react right now. I thought we played a great game, but there are certain opportunities in games. Myself and a lot of the guys pride ourselves on standing up in those big moments."
Czechia's big moment was something of a fluke. 16 seconds after Trevor Zegras was sent off for tripping in the second period, David Spacek's shot was tipped by Brock Nelson's stick, then went in off Zacha's hip.
Zegras appeared to tie the game for the Americans, but the play was clearly blown dead after Joel Farabee collided with Dostal. Farabee protested that he'd been pushed into Dostal, but the officials weren't buying it.
Tkachuk finished the tournament with seven goals and 13 points in eight games. Shane Pinto had nine points, and Jake Sanderson had four.
Czechia will face Sweden in one semi, and Canada, who defeated Slovakia today 6-3, will face Switzerland in the other. Former Senator Nick Paul had two goals and an assist for Canada.
Senators forward Ridly Greig has been an overlooked player for Canada. He wasn't dressed in Thursday's quarterfinal and has only played in four of the eight games. And when he does dress, he isn't being played. Greig has been given a team-low 5:46 of ice time per game.