Czechia got off to a strong start and kept the pressure on for 60 minutes, defeating Germany 8-1 in the penultimate game of Group A play with a series of pretty plays and nice goals.

The win was impressive and showed their opening-night takedown of Canada was no fluke as they try to win a medal at the World Juniors for the first time since 2005.

The Czechs outshot Germany, 54-19, and were full marks for their victory. Jaroslav Chmelar had two goals and an assist while Martin Rysavy and Gabriel Szturc had one goal and two helpers. Jakub Brabanec contributed three assists. 

"We just tried to play the same way today as we have every game," Brabanec said. "We just want to focus on ourselves, so we're really happy so far. We played really well in the neutral zone and controlled the puck. We scored some goals, which was great. We just want to win every game."

"We knew we had already made the quarter-finals," said Germany's captain, Bennet Rossmy, "but we tried to play a good game to get confidence for Tuesday. We didn't play so well, but everyone knows what we have to do next game. We have to break out better, execute better, tape to tape passes, sometimes just a little chip off the boards, put pressure on them and get the puck back. Those are the main things. It's a big thing for Germany to be in the quarter-finals, but we're not done yet. I think we can move on if we just work hard, put pucks on the net, and do the little things right."

The result has several ramifications in the standings. Czechia, now with 10 points, will finish either first or second. Germany stays in fourth and will play the top team of Group B in the quarter-finals on Monday. Canada can no longer win the group and will finish second or third depending on their result tonight against Sweden. The Swedes can finish first (with a win against Canada), second (OT/PSS loss), or third (regulation loss).

Czechia started quickly, opening the scoring at 4:58 with a power-play goal one-timer from David Spacek. It was the third goal of the tournament for the defender who now leads all blueliners in goals with three.

They had a great chance to double their lead a short time later, but Nikita Quapp made a nice save off Robin Sapousek on a breakaway. They did get that second goal later in the period, however. Philip Sinn mishandled a puck in his own end and Gabriel Szturc was in the right place at the right time, making a quick little backhand from the slot at 17:04 to give Czechia a 2-0 lead.

The Czechs started the second by icing the puck half a dozen times over the first few minutes, and shortly before the midway point of the game coach Tobias Abstreiter changed goalies, pulling Quapp and giving Simon Wolf some time. He had previously played two periods, allowing nine goals against Canada. Tonight, he allowed a goal on his first shot when Brabenec made a nice pass out front to Chmelar at 9:38 to make it a 3-0 game.

The Germans fought back, however, and dented the twine three minutes later on a nice individual effort from Veit Oswald. His shot off the rush was blocked, but the puck bounced off the end boards and Oswald swatted it in before Suchanek could react.

Unfortunately, the team could muster no further emotion from the goal, and Czechia struck for two late markers to put the game out of reach. Szturc made a clever pass to Rysavy, stationed directly in front of Wolf. Rysavy spun quickly and found the far side at 16:27. Just 47 seconds later, Petr Hauser scored from a near-impossible angle, a shot Wolf would love to have back, no doubt.

Putting an exclamation point on the night, Czechia added two more early in the third just 29 seconds apart. Chmelar converted another nice pass from Szturc, and then Jakub Kos made it 7-1 at 5:02. Jiri Tichacek closed out the scoring at 17:23 with a high shot over Wolf's glove to finish off a three-on-two break.