The Czech Republic cleared its way to the Ice Hockey World Championship (IIHF) in Cologne, Germany, by beating out Sweden 3:2 during game winning shots on Saturday.
It was a back-and-forth game with Sweden's Johan Harju scoring the first puck in the 8th minute, followed by the Czech Republic's Tomas Mojzis evening up the score in the 17th minute of the first period.
The second period closed with Sweden ahead after Andreas Engqvist scored a puck in the 31st minute.
With just 46 seconds left in the game, the Czech team decided to remove its goalkeeper, Tomas Vokoun, in a move that paid off by evening the score at 2:2 with only 8 seconds left in the third period.
The game went into overtime without either goalkeeper, or without any tie-breaking score, leading to game winning shots, during which Czech Republic's Jan Marek shot the final puck in the shootout to push Sweden out of vying for the Gold.
Russia and Germany will play later on Saturday to determine who will go up against the Czech Republic for the championship. After tonight's tournament, either Russia or Germany will play against Sweden for the Bronze on Sunday.
MOSCOW, May 22 (RIA Novosti)
