<p>They nearly saw things fall to the wayside, but Czechia clinched third place in Group B with a 4-2 win over Switzerland.</p>



<p>Switzerland will finish fourth in the group and will play the hosts from Sweden in the quarterfinal on Tuesday.</p>



<p>Just past the halfway point, the Czechs had a two-goal advantage. Matyas Sapovaliv had the game’s first goal at 12:04 on the man advantage before Robin Sapousek scored on a delayed penalty at 30:05. </p>



<p>However, goals from Simon Meier and Julien Rod to close out the second period gave the team some hope, especially after getting just nine shots on net in the first 40. </p>



<p>But a two-goal second period for the Czechs put the game out of reach. First, Jiri Kulich tapped in a pass from a hard-working effort by Tomas Galvas at 52:47. Then, three minutes later, Tomas Hamara took a feed from Ondrej Becher and made it 4-2 to cap things off.</p><div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="158"></div>



<p>Here’s a look at a few of the biggest standouts from the final game in Group B:</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Czechia</h2>



<p><strong>#4 Matej Prcik, D (Undrafted):</strong> With Ales Cech playing just 1:11 in the second, Prcik had to step up, and he did. He had four shots in the second period alone as he tried to get the Czechs back on the scoresheet, but he had nothing to show for on the scoresheet. Still, as the Swiss started to find their footing, it was good to see Prcik fight back for the Czechs.</p>



<p><strong>#24 Matyas Sapovaliv, C (Vegas Golden Knights): </strong>Not only did the VGK prospect score the only goal of the first period, but he also dominated in the faceoff dot. He went 12-2 in the first 40 minutes while also using his 6-foot-4 frame to his advantage to win puck battles and generate chances in front of the net for Jiri Kulich. While some of Czechia’s stars have had their ups and downs, Sapovaliv has consistently been in the thick of things.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="1" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="170"></div>



<p><strong>#9 Tomas Hamara, D (Ottawa Senators): </strong>This was Hamara’s best game of the tournament, leading all players in ice time. He did a little bit of everything, including cutting the angles to give Hrabal a chance in the Czech net. Hamara’s 4-2 goal with 4:42 to go in the game helped seal the deal in a big way for the Czechs. He’s a good two-way defenseman that’s active on the rush, and he showed that today.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-switzerland">Switzerland</h2>



<p><strong>#29 Alessio Beglieri, G (Undrafted): </strong>After giving up two goals in the first half of the game, Switzerland needed a good second half from Beglieri – who was not at fault for the two goals against. It all seemed to fall apart in the latter stages of the game, but there’s only so much you can do when your team couldn’t generate much offensively.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="2" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="140"></div>



<p><strong>#4 Rodwin Dionicio, D (Anaheim Ducks): </strong>Dionicio had assists on both Swiss goals today while averaging eight minutes of ice time per period. There isn’t much to say that hasn’t been said – the Swiss would be far, far worse without Dionicio making up for not having Lian Bischel on the point. He’s so smart with the puck and is the best skater on the Swiss blueline.</p>



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