Finland had been too strong for both Denmark (6-2) and Latvia (8-0) in their first two matches in the group, but Czech Republic were expected to mount a greater challenge.
That challenge became greater for the Finns with only 66 seconds of the match played, when Veeti Vaisanen was dismissed for cross-checking. On the resulting powerplay, Vojtech Cihar and Tomas Galvas combined to set up Matej Kubiesa to score before the second minute was up.
The Czechs had more shots on goal in the opening two periods, but they failed to put breathing space between themselves and their opponents, while the Leijonat couldn't capitalise on a handful of powerplay chances.
In the final 20 minutes, Finland regained their form and led the shots-on-target count 16-7, but it was not until the final 20 seconds that they finally drew level, with Emil Hemming getting the better of Michal Orsulak in the Czech goal.
Having taken the match to overtime, the Finnish attack again went cold - they hadn't mustered an effort on goal before St Louis Blues' Adam Jiricek notched the winning goal for the Czechs with 03:39 on the clock - 2-1 the final score.
At least the point ensured second-placed Finland had sealed their place in the Quarter-finals, though Denmark's heavy defeat to Canada later in the evening meant Finland would have still progressed with a defeat in regulation.
Finland's final Group B match will be against the Canadians tomorrow evening, needing a win to top the group.
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