TORONTO -- The Team Europe juggernaut rolls on at the World Cup of Hockey, which sets up a must-win situation for Team USA on Tuesday against host Canada.
Team Europe, lightly regarded to start the tournament, moved to 2-0 on Monday, thanks to Leon Draisaitl's breakaway winner that gave the team a 3-2 victory 2:06 into overtime.
Coupled with Europe's stunning 3-0 victory over the United States on Saturday in the team's first game of the tournament, Monday's win puts Europe in excellent position to move to the semifinals while forcing the United States to beat Canada on Tuesday (8 p.m., ESPN) to keep their hopes of advancing alive.
The two teams with the highest point totals through three preliminary-round games in each of the tournament's two four-team groups move on to a one-game semifinal. The winners of those games meet in the best-of-three finals.
Team Europe, perhaps a little less engaged than it was against the favored Americans in their first game, allowed a sloppy, undisciplined Czech team to hang around Monday afternoon, and it nearly cost them.
The Czechs, now 0-1-1 after being thumped 6-0 by Canada in their tournament opener, wasted a sparkling effort by Petr Mrazek, who stopped 38 of 41 shots, including a penalty shot by European captain Anze Kopitar early in the second period. Mrazek was forced into acrobatic save after acrobatic save, thanks to a rash of Czech penalties. In all, the Czechs took six minor penalties plus a penalty shot infraction for handling the puck in the crease. They were guilty of multiple turnovers and missed assignments in their zone.
Still, the Czechs righted the ship in the third period by launching 13 shots at Team Europe goalie Jaroslav Halak, who was strong for the second game in a row for the Europeans. Twice the Czechs came back from one-goal deficits to force extra time, then they had three shots on goal in the extra session.
Three stars
1. Petr Mrazek, G, Czech Republic: This game could have been 6-2 for Team Europe, were it not for the play of Mrazek, who covered up a host of his team's ills. They should be buying him a big downtown Toronto dinner for at least giving them a chance in this one.
2. Mats Zuccarello, W, Europe: The New York Rangers winger scored Team Europe's second goal as Mrazek misplayed a shot off his catching hand. Then Zuccarello spotted Draisaitl breaking free through the neutral zone and hit him with a perfect pass on the winner.
3. Zdeno Chara, D, Europe: There was consternation about the play of the Boston Bruins captain in the pre-tournament, but he has been solid through two games for the surprising Europeans and scored the team's first goal against the Czechs. His continued strong play and leadership will be key to keeping the magical run going at the World Cup of Hockey.
