| Column 1 | Column 2 |
| breakway | a shot |
| to rifle | pass |
| Qualification | scorer |
| sellout | Round |
| goal | play |
| power | win |
| dramatic | crowd |
Martin Straka took a perfect breakway pass from Radek Duda and rifled a shot over the glove of Pasi Nurminen at 12:25 of the third period to give the Czechs a dramatic 2-1 win over Finland in the final game of Group D Preliminary Round play at the Elysee Arena in Turku this afternoon. The win moves the Czechs into first place and puts them in a strong position for the Qualification Round which begins on Friday.
This was by far the most exciting game of the 2003 World Championships to date. The sellout crowd of 11,618 chanted "Suomi!" all game long, but the team's power play was ineffective in nine chances with the man advantage, including two long 5-on-3 opportunities.
Milan Hejduk, the NHL's leading goal-scorer this past year who was now playing in his first game of the World Championships, skated down the left side and drilled a high shot that Nurminen saved but didn't control. The puck sat at his feet, and Hejduk skated by and pushed the puck into the net at 12:01 to tie the game.
Then it was Vokoun's turn as he made a series of great saves on another Finnish power play as the period drew to a close.
In the third, the Finns again had an early 5-on-3. Although they controlled the puck, they didn't create too many great chances.The Finns still had another power play chance, and Niklas Hagman lost control of the puck trying to convert a lovely 2-on-1 pass, but he fell down and the puck slid harmlessly into the corner.
"This was a tight game but it is just one step for our team," Lener said.
"This was a tight game," coach Hannu Aravirta agreed. "During the last few years we have had many close games with them, but they have been winning."