World championship part 3
Tuesday, May 10th
Switzerland 3 - 2 Denmark
Just one game on Tuesday with a Canucks connection, as Yannick Weber and Switzerland took on Jannik Hansen and Denmark.
Things hadn’t gone well for Switzerland up to this point, with surprising losses to Kazakhstan and Norway. Things got off to a bad start against Denmark, as the Danes took a 2-0 lead in the first period with a pair of power play goals.
Jannik Hansen picked up his first point of the tournament, a second assist on Nikolaj Ehlers 2-0 goal. He also fired 4 shots on goal in 21:34 of ice time.
Denmark held the lead through a penalty-filled second period and part of the third, but Yannick Weber started the Swiss comeback with his first goal of the tournament, unexpectedly jumping up into the slot, taking a nice pass from Simon Moser, and firing a shot over Sebastian Dahm’s glove.
The Swiss kept coming, with Nino Niederreiter tipping in the tying goal with just over two minutes left, then Eric Blum hammering in the gamewinner in overtime off a clean faceoff win.
It’s a tough loss for Denmark, who will like have to win their upcoming games against Kazakhstan and Latvia in regulation, and possibly steal a point from Russia or the Czech Republic by taking them to overtime in order to move on.
Wednesday, May 11th
Switzerland 5 - 4 Latvia
The Swiss kept the good times rolling on Wednesday, while Latvia’s tough tournament continued, as they have yet to win a game. Latvia at least has winnable games against Denmark, Kazakhstan, and Norway ahead of them.
Latvia had a chance to get at least a point out of this game, however, and lost it late. After a scoreless first period, both teams erupted in the second. The Swiss scored three goals in five minutes to take a 3-0 lead, but Latvia replied in kind, also scoring three goals in five minutes for a 3-3 tie heading into the third.
Ronalds Kenins scored the tying goal late in the second period, as Swiss forward Morris Trachsler accidentally tipped his centring pass over Reto Berra, who only made 13 saves on 17 shots.
The two teams traded goals in the third period, then Eric Blum scored his second gamewinner in as many days with just 1:29 remaining in the game.
While Weber was on the ice for the gamewinner, his contributions were limited in this game, as he had just one shot in 13:16 ice time. Kenins, meanwhile, had 17:23 in ice time and had two of Latvia’s 17 shots, but was on the ice for three Swiss goals, including both goals in the third period.
The back-to-back Swiss wins put them in decent shape, as both their losses came in overtime, earning them a couple essential points, but they still have to face Russia, Sweden, and the Czech Republic, and may need a surprise win against one of them to move on.
Kazakhstan 3 - 7 Sweden
That’s it for Canucks content on Tuesday and Wednesday, as Jacob Markstrom was on the bench for Sweden’s blowout victory over Kazakhstan. Markstrom struggled in his last start, but Viktor Fasth giving up three goals to Kazakhstan and three games to go in the round robin means Markstrom will have more opportunities to earn the net.
Canada and USA
Both Canada and Team USA had two-day breaks and will be back in action tomorrow. CanucksTV caught up with an overly humble Ben Hutton and with Thatcher Demko, who has yet to play in the tournament thus far.
