Petr Mrazek keeps Czech Republic close in World Cup loss

TORONTO – Through a little over a period nothing about Petr Mrazek’s game for the Czech Republic in the World Cup against Team Europe seemed too strenuous or out of the ordinary.

Then came the second period. After that point, Mrazek made a penalty shot save on Anze Kopitar, a gorgeous glove save on Roman Josi and let in a soft goal, off the same glove that had just robbed Josi, from Mats Zuccarello.

The last two periods plus overtime, Mrazek faced 33 shots on goal in the Czech Republic’s 3-2 loss to Team Europe. He stood tall on most of them but wasn’t tall enough. Leon Draisaitl’s breakaway goal in overtime gave Mrazek the tough defeat in a game that effectively ended the Czech Republic’s chances at making the semifinal.

[Sign up to play Yahoo Fantasy Hockey for free | Mock Draft | Latest news]

Mrazek saw 41 shots on goal and made 38 saves. The Czechs are now 0-2-0 in the World Cup.

“We knew what we were playing for, we knew we had to get two points to stay in the tournament,” Mrazek said. “There’s still some chance but it’s not in our hands right now.”

On Kopitar’s penalty shot at the 2:31 mark of the second period, Mrazek stayed patient and forced Kopitar to the backhand. Mrazek was then able to close off the net when he had Kopitar on that side.

“I was just trying to stay big,” Mrazek said. “I knew he has a good shot. I think I made him go on the backhand shot so I was trying to move there and close the five-hole.”

Mrazek’s save on Josi came early in the third period near the end of a 5-on-3. Mrazek stuck out his glove to cover the top of the net and used his body to lessen the open space on the bottom. Josi then fired a shot into Mrazek’s glove, which prevented Europe from taking a 2-1 lead.

“It’s lucky. It’s a lucky save,” Mrazek said. “I just got my glove up and it hit my glove. Nothing about this, it’s just luck.”

Said Josi, “Yeah, he was playing really well. I thought especially in the second period we had a lot of shots, put a lot of pressure on them, had a couple good chances. Yeah, I thought he played well. Obviously made a great save on me there. Kind of had an open net, and he caught it with the glove.”

Even with those crucial saves, Mrazek had some struggles. Zdeno Chara’s first period goal came from a tough angle. Zuccarello’s goal was just misplayed by Mrazek.

“I lost the puck a little bit, I tried to stop it with the shoulder and hit my shoulder and the glove and went in,” Mrazek said of Zuccarello’s tally.

In the first game the Czechs started Michal Neuvirth against Canada and he was lit up for six goals. Canada fired 50 shots on goal, but the Czech coaching staff believed they needed to make the subtle change with Mrazek – the probable starter for the Detroit Red Wings this upcoming season.

“I thought he was really good. He gave us a chance to win,” Czech assistant coach Vinny Prospal said. “And why we went with him is because, it’s not like Neuvirth played bad for us in the first game. He was by far our best player in the first game. We just had a hunch that Petr could give us an opportunity to win this game and that’s what we did.”

Last January, Mrazek went 7-1-1 with a 1.32 goal-against average and .952 save percentage, but in the last two months he was pulled five times in a span of 14 starts. In this ‘best-on-best’ tournament, Mrazek wanted to get some confidence and some playing time. This could at least show the Red Wings he could be the unquestioned starter for the upcoming season and not split time with Jimmy Howard, as he did down the stretch in 2015-16.

“It’s great for everyone. When you play against the best players you have to be ready for 100 percent on the game if you want to have success,” Mrazek said. “This is a tournament everyone can dream about. I think everyone is thinking about the national team right now and when it’s over then we’ll look over to Detroit.”

– – – – – – –

Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY