Kurashev shines as Switzerland earns QF berth

Philipp Kurashev was the man of the night, giving Switzerland a big 4-0 victory after scoring a hat-trick against Denmark in Vancouver, Canada.

With the win, Switzerland currently has four points, meaning they have clinched a spot in the quarter-finals with a game against Russia still yet to come. Denmark, however, will need the Czechs to lose to Canada and then will need to beat the Czechs on New Year's Eve, which could be a tough task after failing to score a goal in their first three games.

It wasn’t a shock that Philipp Kurashev would find himself on the scoresheet, but nobody likely expected him to have four of the first five goals scored by Switzerland in the tournament. After multiple good scoring chances by the Danes at the other end, Kurashev scored on the power play at 8:51 after Nicolas Muller set him up at the high slot where he spends a lot of time, beating Mads Sogaard with a nice wrist shot to make it 1-0.

In the final minute of the period, he scored again. This time, undrafted forward Nando Eggenberger found Kurashev, a Chicago Blackhawks prospect, skating right into his wheelhouse. Kurashev made quick work of the shot, beating Sogaard blocker side to give Switzerland the 2-0 advantage heading into the first break.

Denmark couldn’t capitalize on any of their power play chances and weren’t producing the scoring opportunities that they had earlier in the game. At 33:29, Simon le Coultre gave Switzerland the three-goal advantage after Justin Sigrist found him joining the rush, with le Coultre waiting long enough to get the ideal shot through the wickets of Sogaard to make it 3-0 for the Swiss.

Kurashev would add to the advantage after scoring his third goal of the game. Kurashev would enter the zone with the puck, electing to hold on to it instead of passing to a forward in front. He held on long enough to catch Sogaard out of position and pushed the disk over the goal line at a tough angle, beating the Danish netminder to make it 4-0, a score that would stand until the final buzzer.

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