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QUEBEC CITY -- Mattias Weinhandl scored 3:15 into overtime Wednesday, giving Sweden a 3-2 victory over the Czech Republic and a berth in the semifinals at the World Hockey Championships.
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Sweden will play Canada, an 8-2 winner later Wednesday in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Friday in Quebec City. It's the eighth consecutive year Sweden will play in the semifinals, where it lost 4-1 to Canada last year in Moscow.
"We don't have our best team, but maybe that's in our favor because we don't have the pressure with that," Weinhandl said. "We can just play our game."
The Czechs had just killed a penalty when Weinhandl slipped a backhanded shot in heavy traffic toward the net, where it slid just inside the goal post.
"It hit some skates and sticks and probably hit everything and just went in," Weinhandl said. "It was a really lucky goal and that's what we needed."
Radim Vrbata gave the Czechs a 2-1 lead on a penalty shot 8:19 into the third period after he was tripped on a breakaway. Sweden got it back on a disputed goal by Marcus Nilson with 3:38 remaining, setting up the 10-minute, 4-on-4 overtime period.
Rickard Wallin backed into Milan Hnilicka and knocked him over, and the Czech goaltender was unable to get up in time to stop Nilson's shot. The Czechs complained vehemently to the referees to no avail.
"That's the way to score goals nowadays," Wallin said. "We have to have someone going at the net. Obviously, he got a little distracted and maybe that's why he let the puck through. But we talk a lot about going to the net and getting shots through."
Sweden's Patric Hornqvist and Czech Tomas Rolinek exchanged goals in the second period.
The Swedes spent much of an uneventful first period killing penalties, but managed to get the best chance when Hnilicka robbed Hornqvist from the slot with a quick glove save.
Sweden finally broke through on a power play in the second period, when Hornqvist jumped on Anton Stralman's rebound, stepped around Hnilicka and slid in his sixth goal of the tournament.
The Czechs tied it on a rush when Rolinek trailed and banged home Ales Kotalik's rebound past goalie Henrik Lundqvist.
"With the personnel we have, with the situation is the way it is, we have to play a tight game and not let the opponents have big chances," Sweden coach Bengt Gustafsson said. "And we have to use our good offensive players when the time is there. We're not going to change anything going into the semifinals."
