JENYS SCORES TWICE TO HELP CZECHS TO FIFTH PLACE AT WJAC

LIVERPOOL, N.S. – Pavel Jenys scored twice and Adam Zboril had four points, including the game-winning goal, to help the Czech Republic to fifth place at the 2013 World Junior A Challenge with a wild 7-5 win over Canada East on Saturday night.

It’s the first time in three appearances at the tournament that the Czechs have not finished sixth; Saturday’s win is just their second in 12 all-time World Junior A Challenge games.

Radim Zohorna, Tomas Dvorak, Jiri Cernoch and Dominik Pokorny had the other goals for the Czech Republic, which scored more goals than it had in any other game ever at the tournament. The old single-game high was set in its lone win, 4-3 over Russia in the 2011 preliminary round.

Zboril added three assists, while Jenys, Pokorny, Cernoch and Dominik Masin each finished with two points.

Marly Quince (Thunder Bay, Ont./Cornwall, CCHL) and Kelly Summers (Golden Lake, Ont./Carleton Place, CCHL) scored two goals apiece to lead Canada East, which is the first Canadian team to ever go winless at the tournament.

Jake Evans (Toronto, Ont./St. Michael’s, OJHL) had the other Canadian goal. Quince and Summers finished with three points apiece, as did Mike Soucier (Caledon, Ont./Wellington, OJHL), who had three assists.

The scoring started early for Canada East when Summers found the back of the net just 48 seconds in.

That would be the lone goal of the first period, thanks in large part to Canada East goaltender Ben Blacker (Oakville, Ont./Milton, OJHL), who stopped all 17 shots he faced in the opening 20 minutes.

The floodgates opened for the Czechs in the second period; Zohorna tied the game at 1:22 before Dvorak (7:58), Cernoch (9:15) and Jenys (12:26) all beat Blacker, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 4-1 lead in just over 11 minutes.

Canada East refused to roll over, however. Evans made it a two-goal game before the end of the second period, and Quince and Summers scored before the midway point of the final frame to bring the Canadians all the way back and tie the game 4-4.

The tie would be short-lived, as Pokorny converted on a Czech power play just over four minutes after Summers’ goal, and Zboril scored the winner 1:11 after that.

Quince’s second goal cut the lead back to one with four minutes left and set up an exciting finish, but Jenys scored into an empty net with 38 seconds left to put the final nail in the Canadian coffin.

Blacker finished with 33 saves in his first start of the tournament, while his Czech counterpart, Vitek Vanacek, stopped 27 of 32 to record the win.

The game was delayed late in the second period when a pane of glass at the Queens Place Emera Centre was broken. After a 45-minute stoppage, the final 3:28 of the second period was played immediately before the third.

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