Penalties and shot inefficiency cost Swiss team the first points

In Switzerlands second game of the tournament they faced an opponent just as good as, or even slightly better than the Finns yesterday. Canada had won their first game against Latvia in a high-scoring game 11-6 and are always considered to be a tournament favorite even though Canada doesn't send their best-possible squad due to their ongoing Junior League playoffs. The Swiss had lost their first game to Finland 3-1. The problem was obvious, capitalizing on chances and taking penalties against a Finnish team that had scored 5 out of 6 goals on the powerplay advantage in their first game.

Both teams had their identical rosters dressed except for the Canadian goalie. Zach Sawchenko was given a break and Evan Cormier had his first start in the tournament.

With 4 minutes played in the game the Swiss had to go into boxplay-mode as Jonas Siegenthaler was benched for tripping. The Canadians didn't waste any time as Matt Barzal scored the game opener 13 seconds into the powerplay assisted by Mitchell Stephens and Thomas Chabot. During the next few minutes the Swiss received two powerplay chances of their own. A first penalty passed away with a good play in the Canadian zone, putting the Canucks under pressure but with no accountable result. Just seconds later the Swiss were awarded a two-man advantage but the shots fired on goalie Cormier mostly aimed on his body and so the powerplay passed by with Canada still holding the 1-0 lead.

The Swiss came from the break with enough confidence and create pressure in the offensive zone early but a quick breakaway by Canada resulted in an own goal from Jonas Siegenthaler who had deflected the puck in the net. Matt Barzal was awarded the goal as he had been the last Canadian player to touch the puck and with that, his second goal of the evening.

At halftime the Canadians were on their second powerplay shift of the game and again they proved that the one-man advantage is one of their strengths as Nicolas Roy scored from a short distance to beat van Pottelberghe. With a little less than 3 minutes in the middle period Parker Wotherspoon was benched for holding an opponent but the powerplay for Switzerland wasn't very effective in the starting moments but with just over a minute in the formation, Dominik Diem got Switzerland on the board a first time, assisted by Denis Malgin and Jonas Siegenthaler.

Just before the second period had ended, Jonas Siegenthaler took another penalty and in the starting seconds of the final period Anthony Beauvillier scored on the man-advantage, assisted by Mitchell Stephens and Matt Barzal. This was the second time that Siegenthaler had produced a penalty and received a goal on Switzerlands boxplay. With 9 minutes left in the game, the Swiss had yet another chance with a two-man advantage but once again the youngsters had trouble finding the right angle and giving Cormier in the goal enough time to position himself and either block the shot or deflect it. In the 3rd period  Switzerland received 4, the Canadians 5 minor penalties which made for a good boxplay and powerplay training but it also showed that both teams played undisciplined. While Canada can plan their quarterfinal, Switzerland's qualification is still uncertain and will highly depend on Mondays game against Latvia.

Best Player Canada: Matt Barzal
Best Player Switzerland: Calvin Thurkauf

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