Finland were top of the group after a regulation time win over Switzerland while Sweden beat the Czech Republic on penalties in opening night, but it's the Swedes who now lead ahead of the Finns on goals score having beaten the Swiss 4-2.
It will be winner-takes-all between the two Nordic neighbours when they face off in the final round of the four-team tournament, while their two points means the Czechs can still finish second by beating Switzerland and hoping the other result goes their way.
In front of their home crowd at Veikkaus Arena in Helsinki, Finland went ahead inside two minutes as Juho Lammikko struck after good work from Benjamin Rautiainen and Juuso Arola.
From then on, the Finns were on the backfoot, as the Czechs led the shots-on-target count in each period, but could not find a way past Kim Saarinen in the Finnish goal.
That was until the final two minutes of the match, when Jakub Konecny and Jiri Tichacek combined to set up Andrej Sustr to equalise and spoil what would have otherwise been a brilliant 37-save shutout for Saarinen.
After no goals in overtime, the shootout followed a similar story to the first 60 minutes, as Finland took an early lead only for the Czechs to strike late - Janne Kuokkanen scored the opener, before Filip Chlapik levelled with the visitors' fifth penalty to force sudden death.
But Jere Innala found the perfect response, scoring Finland's next attempt, then Chlapik was denied a second, giving the Leijonat a 2-1 win after penalties.
Follow the conclusion to the Nocco Hockey Games on Flashcore.