After a strong performance at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Italian netminder Damian Clara returned to the national team for a stint at the 2026 IIHF World Championship.
Despite losing each of their first two games, Italy started their game against Czechia strong, with HC Pustertal Wölfe forward Nick Saracino giving the Italians a second-period lead from an assist provided by HC Pustertal forward Mikael Frycklund.
Clara would back the second-period goal with an outstanding effort of his own, saving 55 of the whopping 57 shots sent his way during the game. That said, Italy would ultimately fall short of recording a result against Czechia, losing 3-1.
Italy did well to protect their advantage well into the third period, before Charlotte Checkers defenseman Marek Alscher levelled the game for Czechia with five minutes played in the final frame. The assists were provided by Kärpät defenseman Jiri Tichacek and Boston Bruins winger Matej Blumel.
The Italians continued to hold for another six minutes, but HC Kometa Brno winger Jakub Flek gave the Czechs the lead with under ten minutes to go in the game. Former Edmonton Oiler David Tomasek recorded the primary assist on the go-ahead goal, while Vancouver Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek added a secondary assist.
Despite a late push to tie the game, Czechia would add an insurance goal to give themselves a two-goal advantage. Former Ottawa Senator Dominik Kubalik scored the empty netter, while Tomasek and Hronek added the assists.
Relevant statistics and facts
If you thought Czechia recording 58 total shots was stunning enough, that's only just the beginning. Italy recorded only 15 shots on goal for the entire game. Part of that tally included a 24-3 second-period shot count in favor of Czechia.
Five Czech skaters recorded at least five shots on goal during the game.
Both Italy and Czechia were unable to score on the power play. Italy only had one power play opportunity, while Czechia had four.
Rytiri Kladno netminder Dominik Pavlat earned the win in net for Czechia. He stopped 14 of the 15 shots that he faced, resulting in a 0.933 save percentage.
What's next?
Both Czechia and Italy will be off on Thursday, but Czechia won't return to action until Saturday.
On Friday, Italy will continue to search for their first win of the tournament when they take on Sweden at 2:20 P.M. Eastern Time. The next day, Czechia will return to preliminary round action against Slovakia, who have yet to lose in this tournament with two regulation wins and one overtime victory. Puck drop in that game is set for 10:20 A.M. Eastern Time.
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