Swiss Smack South Korea 8-0 to Grab First Victory

Switzerland had no problem showing their strength against a weaker opponent, crushing South Korea 8-0 on Saturday evening in PyeongChang in Group A action.

Switzerland dominated the game from the moment the puck was dropped, and their 11th shot of the game at 10:23 proved to be deadly. Denis Hollenstein would make it 1-0 after taking the feed from Gaetan Haas on the wrap-around, with the EHC Kloten forward beating Matt Dalton after the Korean goalie made many big stops, with Switzerland taking the 1-0 advantage. 

The Swiss peppered Dalton with shots from any angle possible, making the former Boston Bruins prospect work hard in the Korean net. Unfortunately for him, Dalton would allow a softer one after Felicien Du Bois's wrist shot hit off of Dalton's chest and in, somehow bouncing up in the air and just over the goal line to give Switzerland the 2-0 lead after a short review to make sure it went in.

A great individual effort by Pius Suter allowed the Swiss to extend their lead to three goals in the second period. At 15:55, Suter skated around the Korean zone with great puck control, moving around near the net with ease. He would make a quick switchback attempt behind the Korean net before jamming the puck in in a small opening by Dalton's left pad, giving the Swiss the 3-0 lead.

The Swiss weren't done, scoring twice just over a minute apart to make it 5-0.  After the Swiss killed two penalties, Thomas Rufenacht made it 4-0 after deking past Mike Testwuide before squeaking one on the ice past Dalton, only to have Suter score his second of the night on the very next play over a minute later.

The fifth goal resulted in Dalton's night coming to an end. For the first time in Olympic history, a South Korean born-and-raised player got to play in net as Sung Je Park took over in relief in front of thousands of excited fans. Park's night didn't start off well, however, as Reto Schaeppi scored on his first shot of the game, a beautiful wrist shot over the glove. Suter would grab a hat-trick and Enzo Corvi would score one of his own to finish the Swiss onslaught, with the team in red and white grabbing their first victory of the tournament in a dominant fashion.

Switzerland will look to close out the round-robin portion of Group A with a Sunday evening contest against the undefeated Czech Republic team. Later that day, Canada will meet up with South Korea, who played their best game ever against the Canadians at the Channel One Cup back in December, a 4-2 loss.

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