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Two days in, the biggest surprise of the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup is Switzerland. Following yesterday´s 6-3 win over Slovakia, the Swiss stunned Finland 3-1 in their second game to take the group lead. In a very defensive game, the Swiss outshot Finland just 15-10.
Penalties: 5:4. PP goals: 0:1. SH goals: 0:0.
Referees: Mejzlík, Ondráček – Rampír, Šimánek.
Report
After Finland and Switzerland brought their offence in their first games – scoring nine and six goals, respectively – defence was the order of the day on Tuesday as the two teams felt each other out. Finland outshot Switzerland 3-2 in a cautiously-played first period amid foggy conditions inside Pavol Demitra Arena on a rainy first day of August in Trenčín.
But Switzerland broke through with two goals in the second period. The first one came on the power play just shy of the game’s midpoint. The Swiss moved the puck nicely around the Finnish zone and Yannik Ponzetto fired a wrist shot from the top of the slot that beat Peterri Rimpinen under the glove. The second one came on another long shot – this time Joel Kurt from the top of the circle, which this time beat Rimpinen on the short side over the blocker.
The Finns tried to get some offence going in the third period but were stifled by a couple of early penalties that they had to kill. Then back at full strength, they finally broke through with 9:02 to play when Niilopekka Muhonen one-timed a floater from the point that went over Phileas Lachat’s shoulder and into the net. Tuomas Suoniemi drew an assist for his tourament-leading sixth point.
However, the Swiss quickly killed any Finnish momentum by answering just 16 seconds later. Robin Nico Antenen got the puck on the right-wing boards and passed into the slot, where Nils Wehrli let go a quick shot that found the back of the net.
The Finns had another chance on the power play but generated very little, even with Rimpinen out for a 6-on-4 advantage. When the final horn sounded, the Swiss players poured off the bench to celebrate their second straight victory.
As a result, the Swiss can secure a spot in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup semi-finals for the first time ever with a single point tomorrow against Canada, but might not even need that if other results break their way. It also makes the group’s last game against Slovakia a very big one for Finland.
Reactions
Marko Kauppinen (head coach, Team Finland): “When you lose and play like that, you’re not happy. Switzerland played good. They played tight in the middle and we weren’t ready to fight for space. I think we had seven shots after two periods, which isn’t enough. They played really smart, they took away our strengths and our boys weren’t as ready to play as yesterday. Of course, the rink and the fog made it a little bit difficult to play our style. Every game is a big game here and we can win or lose, it depends how ready we are mentally.”
Patrick Schöb (head coach, Team Switzerland): “We saw Finland yesterday, we played them a couple of times last year, we know they’re a really good team. Yesterday, our defensive performance wasn’t that great but today, we played a full 60 minutes, we always tried to put pressure on them, and I’m pretty happy with the guys. Yesterday were two up-and-down games but today was really good defensively from both teams, I thought. It was hard to get good scoring chances. We want to play our game tomorrow against Canada. It will be the first time most of our guys have faced them, so it will be a big game anyway for us, and we just want to be ready for it.”