News

The Boston Bruins, with players David Krejčí and Jaromír Jágr, are a win away from making the Stanley Cup finals after defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 2:1 on Wednesday to take a commanding 3:0 series lead. The winning goal was scored by Patrice Bergeron in 2nd overtime on a play begun by Jágr against the boards. The 41-year-old Czech legend dug the puck out from Malkin, passing to Marchand who set up Bergeron for the winner. Goalie Tomáš Vokoun, who stopped 38 shots on the night, had little chance. In the playoffs, the Bruins’ Jágr, who has two Stanley Cup rings from more than two decades ago, has been effective at key moments; his teammate, David Krejčí, leads the postseason on points. So far he has scored nine goals and racked up 12 assists.

The water levels of the Labe have not been rising in the town of Litoměřice, although it is not definite yet that they have reached their peak. Officials at the Lovochemie chemical plant in the nearby town of Lovosice decided not to release water into the complex despite the leaking flood barriers. The industrial complex, which produces chemical fertilizers, is now out of danger and the prime minister praised the company’s management for doing everything to avoid any damage to the environment. The Lovochemie complex was flooded in 2002 causing damage worth around 200 million crowns.

Prague is preparing to remove the temporary flood walls that were set up along the Vltava river. Flooded roads and tram lines are being revitalized and clean-up work has started in the neighborhoods that were flooded. The water flow of the Vltava in the capital has gone down in the past 24 hours from 3,200 cubic meters per second to 2,500, allowing the Public Transportation Company’s employees to begin preparing the central metro station for reopening to the public, which is expected in the next two days. Five stations were reopened on Wednesday, but a number of others remain closed.

Six hundred Dutch soldiers, currently training in the south Bohemian Boletice, have offered their help with flood relief operations in the Czech Republic. The Czech government has so far turned down the offer. Two thousand Czech army officers have been helping firefighters and volunteers with flood relief efforts since the weekend. Some 32,000 professional and volunteer firefights have been working for the past four days in the areas affected by the flooding. Firefighters from Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Germany, Luxemburg and Russia have also offered their help to the Czech Republic.