STOCKHOLM – The middle game at the Globe Arena in Stockholm featured a defensive struggle between the Czech Republic and Denmark. A goal by Ales Hemsky at 19:55 of the second period broke the stalemate and propelled the Czechs to a 2-0 win in their opening game of the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.

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The goal came just as a hooking penalty against Danish defenseman Philip Larsen had expired and he’d left the box. Petr Nedved found Tomas Plekanec off to the side of the net who set a pass through to Hemsky as he was skating towards the crease to jam the puck in from his forehand past Frederik Andersen.

The game marked Nedved’s debut with the Czech Republic national team. The 40-year-old Nedved centered a line with Petr Prucha and Michal Vondrka and saw active duty on the power play. "I still love the game that’s the most important thing," said Nedved. "The last few years have been pretty good for myself, so I’ve just been saying to myself: ‘Why not play as long as you enjoy it?’"

For nearly forty minutes both teams were not conceding much space on the ice. The Czechs had the better of the few high percentage chances generated while the Danes were kept on the periphery with long shots on Jakub Kovar, who got the start.

In the second period, the Czechs took three minor penalties, allowing Denmark to test their power play. While Denmark moved the puck well, collapsing the Czech defense from time to time, they were not able to take full advantage.

In particular, a five-on-three at 5:35 of the period wasn’t capitalized upon. With Zdenek Kutlak and David Krejci both off, the chance to draw first blood never materialized.

By the middle of the second period fans in attendance chanted, “Please get a goal.” Their call was answered when Hemsky ended the scoreless tie with five seconds remaining in the period. For Hemsky it was his first goal of the tournament and first since 2009 when he last represented the Czech Republic. "We know they’re a dangerous team, and they got a big momentum-changer late in the second," said Jannik Hansen. "With the lead going into the third, they could kind of sit back a little bit more and wait for our mistakes, try to get some odd-man rushes. Everybody knows how good they are when they have the lead."

Petr Tenkrat added an insurance goal at 17:21 with an assist from Michael Frolik and Tomas Plekanec, his second of the game.

It was a big win for the Czech Republic given that this was the first of back-to-back games. They face another tough contest tomorrow against Sweden.

Denmark will seek to rebound against Italy on Sunday afternoon. "We knew before the game that we were in good shape, and we wanted to take the chance to take some points off the Czechs today," said Morten Green. "We got the game right where we wanted it, 0-0 after the first, and had a very good second period. But we missed a couple of big opportunities on the power play, and that decided the game for us today. We just weren’t able to close it."

JOHN SANFUL