WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah – For one day, at least, Jaromir Jagr was the best player in the world again. OK, the second best. Swedish goaltender Tommy Salo outdueled Dominik Hasek, making 37 saves in a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic on Sunday before a raucous crowd at the E Center. The surprising Swedes, who had already defeated Canada, improved to 2-0 in the tournament and are assured of a top seed for the quarterfinals and a favorable matchup against Belarus. “The biggest surprise is Sweden,” said Czech coach Josef Augusta. The defending gold-medal champion Czechs dropped to 1-1. They play Canada today. Jagr, playing on a line with former Penguins teammates Robert Lang and Jan Hrdina, looked like the Jagr of 1992. He skated a hundred miles an hour on every shift, threw checks, killed penalties, carried defenders on his back, knocked down a linesman, barked at the referee and recorded a game-high seven shots on goal. In one second-period sequence, Jagr shot wide from the right circle, chased the rebound all the way to the left point, kept the puck in, circled toward the goal, took a pass and rifled a shot at Salo. It was the sort of performance that must have had all of Washington wondering where this version of Jagr has been all season. Clearly, playing for his country has lit a fire under No. 68. “This is maybe my last chance to represent my country,” Jagr said. “It’s a big tournament for me.” The only thing Jagr didn’t do was score, but he knows the real tournament starts Wednesday in the quarterfinals. That’s when it becomes single elimination. “If you lose in the playoff, nobody remembers what kind of hockey you played, good or bad,” Jagr said. “It’s, ‘Do you have a medal or not?’ ” The Czechs knew yesterday how everyone else felt in 1998, when Hasek stole the tournament. They outshot Sweden 29-13 over the final two periods and 38-22 overall. Salo made a slew of stunning saves, including a point-blank stop on Patrik Elias eight minutes into the third period. “Salo won the game for us,” Swedish captain Mats Sundin said. Sundin has been as good as anyone in this tournament. He scored his third goal in two games and had another disallowed when teammate Tomas Holmstrom had a skate in the crease. The Swedes didn’t have their long-passing game going like they did against Canada, but their long-shooting game worked just fine. They beat Hasek twice with long-range shots. Kim Johnsson scored a power-play goal from the point at 4:45 of the first period. It sailed through traffic, then hit Hasek’s pad and the post before going in. Sundin scored what proved to be the game-winner at 5:14 of the second period when he whistled a low shot from the top of the left circle under Hasek’s pads. “He made a move from my right side and surprised me,” Hasek said. “It was a really bad goal.” Jiri Dopita scored the Czechs’ only goal at 10:23 of the second period when he lifted his own rebound past Salo. Fans from both countries raised a din that equaled or perhaps surpassed the noise from the night before, when the U.S. tied Russia, 2-2. The game was equally spectacular, too. It went up and down for nearly 60 minutes. The Swedes, without star forward Peter Forsberg, are thrilled with their start but aware that, in reality, they have accomplished nothing. “We realize the medal round starts with quarterfinals,” Sundin said. “It’s a good start, but that’s all it is.” Notes: Word yesterday was that Tom Barrasso will get the start in goal for the United States in its game today against Belarus. …Jagr knocked down a linesman late in the game as the Czechs desperately tried to rally. He then yelled at the linesman. “That’s my spot on the power play,” Jagr joked afterward. …Czech forward Petr Skyora refused to talk with English-speaking reporters after the game. When he was asked a question in English, Sykora said, “I can’t speak English right now, are you kidding me• I’ve been speaking Czech for 12 minutes.” Sykora then walked away and promptly did an interview with NBC’s Darren Pang. Presumably in English. …Hasek pounded his stick on the ice several times during even-strength play with his team in the offensive zone. He later said it was “usually a message” telling his teammates he didn’t like what they were doing and should reconfigure themselves. …Czech forward Martin Havlat took a couple of costly penalties. The first led to Sweden’s first goal. The second got him tossed out of the game with 7:44 left. He was slapped with a five-minute major for boarding Mychal Nylander.

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