In Tampere, Finland, Czechia defeated The United States 8-4 to take home the Bronze Medal in the IHF World Championships. The story of the game, though, was a matchup of current Boston Bruins David Pastrnak against Bruins’ goaltender Jeremy Swayman. On this day, Pastrnak would win the battle with a third-period hat trick to help Czechia complete a comeback win.
The US led 3-1 after one period, but the Czechs would explode for six third-period goals, led by Pastrnak’s hat trick. Leading into the Bronze Medal game, Swayman had a terrific tournament posting a 1.32 goals-against average (GAA), and a .943 save percentage. With the loss, the Alaska native’s GAA rose to 2.23. Pastrnak finished the tournament with seven goals and three assists. Pastrnak’s seven goals tie him with Canada’s Pierre-Luc Dubois for the tournament lead.
Former Bruin Karson Kuhlman scored two goals for the US. Canada will face host Finland in the Gold Medal game today.
