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Czechs expected to make lineup changes against Latvia

Sochi Olympics Ice Hockey Men

Czech Republic goaltender Jakub Kovar looks for the puck, shot by Sweden forward Patrik Berglund, as it flies into the goal during the first period of a men’s ice hockey game against Sweden at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Macintosh

From NHL.com:

Don’t be surprised if Hadamczik makes a change in goal. He didn’t dress Ondrej Pavelec of the Winnipeg Jets against Sweden, opting instead to use two KHL goalies; starter Jakub Kovar allowed three goals on 10 shots before being pulled less than a minute into the second period. Alexander Salak surrendered the Swedes’ fourth goal on the first shot he faced, though he did stop 14 shots after that. Hadamczik said he was giving Pavelec some extra time to adjust his body clock after coming from 10 time zones away.

The decision to start Kovar came back to bite the Czechs almost immediately, as he allowed three goals on just 10 shots in the team’s opening-tournament loss to Sweden two days ago and was yanked from the crease. Pavelec is the only National Hockey League goalie on the Czech roster, although it appeared he was just being saved for further games in the preliminary round.

“It’s the Olympics. Everyone wants to play,” Pavelec said. “That’s why we’re here. I don’t know. I’ll work hard in practice. The coaches have their reasons. Hopefully this works for us and we win.”

It’s also looking like Martin Hanzal could draw back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch in the last game. And Ales Hemsky could see a bigger role after expressing frustration with a lack of ice time in the opener.

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