Canada East Avoids Collapse With 4-3 Win Over Swiss

Canada East survived a deadly comeback by Switzerland to win their first game at the World Junior A Challenge by a score of 4-3.

After a rough outing against the Czech Republic, Canada needed a big start to help ensure the same fate would be tougher to repeat. At 4:50 in the first, Derek Dicaire scored off a weak backhand through the legs of Akira Schmid, giving the Canadians a 1-0 lead.

A combination of a bad rebound and a turnover allowed the Swiss to get back in the game. At 7:40, Mathieu Vouillamoz came in after Jett Alexander kicking the puck in front, with Vouillamoz knocking it in close to tie the game at one apiece.

One of the most dangerous duos at the World Junior A Challenge has proven to be Nick Campoli and Jack McBain, with the pair connecting on Canada's lone goal against the Russians last night. They connected again in the first, with Campoli, a Vegas Golden Knights prospect, feeding McBain, a projected first-rounder, at the side of the net to make it 2-1 after a sloppy few minutes for the Canadians.

Canada would find the back of the net before the end of the second to grab the two-goal lead. Colton Kalezic would score all alone in front after some tremendous work by Dicaire to keep the play around alive around the Swiss net before setting Kalezic up for the goal. It was a bit of assurance for the Canadians, who seemed to finally start to wear down the Swiss.

Two quick goals by the Swiss in the third period changed the whole course of the game. At 6:05, Julian Mettler stole the puck off of a bad Canadian giveaway and sniped the disk past Alexander, giving the Swiss some life.

59 seconds after that, they tied it up on the power play. Jeremi Gerber was in the right spot at the right time after a rebound in front was left wide open, with Gerber tapping it in to tie the battle up at three apiece.

Canada had a rough start to the third, but they'd get an important goal late to win the game. At 13:04, Canada East would regain their lead thanks to Connor MacEachern tipping in Tim Theocharidis' shot from the point, just beating Schmid for the 4-3 goal.

Canada East will wait to find out their opponent for the quarterfinals on Wednesday with a day off on Tuesday. The Swiss, however, will fight for their first win with a 3:30 AST start against the Russians tomorrow afternoon.

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