Swiss double host Slovaks

The Swiss opened the scoring off the rush in the fifth minute. Richard Rafaj stopped the original shot from Jordan Forget, but Yannik Ponzetto swept the rebound to Jamiro Reber, who shovelled it in.

The Swiss doubled their lead on a brilliant individual play by defenceman Daniil Ustinkov with just under two minutes to play in the opening period. He kept the puck in the Slovak zone on the left-wing boards and then carried the puck across the ice to the far point, where he let go a low wrist shot through a crowd that eluded Rafaj.

However, Slovakia managed to get one back before the period ended. Christian Kirch stopped the initial shot from Ján Chovan, but the Slovak forward got his own rebound and sent it back to the point to Samuel Kupec, whose one-timer fluttered toward the net and found net just inside the far post with Kirsch screened.

Early in the second period, Switzerland regained the two-goal cushion with Reber, Ustinkov and Ponzetto all recording their second points. Catching the Slovaks on a bad change, the trio rushed in 3-on-1 and Ustinkov passed across to Reber, giving Rafaj no chance.

Again down by a pair, the Slovaks began to press with more urgency but Kirch was solid in the Swiss net. They finally managed to break through for a second time by creating traffic in front of the Swiss goalie, with Tomáš Šlank sending a shot from the high slot that Kirch never saw off the post and in.

The Slovaks had some power-play chances and came very close to tying the game, but midway through the third period it was Switzerland striking with a big shorthanded goal, with Kimi Körbler forcing a turnover in the Slovak zone and feeding Loris Wey for the backdoor tap-in. Then four minutes later, the Swiss put the game away on the power play on a long shot from the point by Niklas Blessing.

Chovan gave Slovakia a ray of hope with 4:12 to go, but a late penalty to Theo Kiss removed all doubt about a comeback and Robin Nico Antenen scored on the power play with half a second remaining.