“We are at a different point now,” said national coach Patrick Fischer before the tournament when asked about the disappointment in 2018 in Pyeongchang. At the first Olympic Games under his leadership, the Swiss failed in the round of 16 against Germany (1:2 aet). However, the progress made has not yet led to positive results in Beijing. On the contrary: three games, one point, goal difference 4:8, is the sobering result after the preliminary round.
What gives the most food for thought is that the weakest performance was in the third game against Denmark (3:5). Against the Russian selection (0:1) and against the Czech Republic (1:2 nP), the Swiss had convinced on the defensive. Both goals were own goals. With a bit more luck, more than one point would have been possible. In this respect, the first two defeats gave little cause for concern, all the more so since it is normal for the adaptation to the smaller ice field to take a certain amount of time
How the Swiss then presented themselves in the game against the Danes after conceding both goals within 21 seconds from 1:0 (16th) to 1:2 (22nd) does not speak for the team. It didn’t go well together until the 1:4 (42nd). Only then did the Swiss show what they were made of, but the mortgage weighed too heavily.
Miserable offensive values
In the round of 16 against the Czech Republic it is important to get back to the defensive stability of the first two games and to avoid stupid penalties – the Swiss conceded no fewer than seven two-minute penalties against the Danes. When attacking, you need more assertiveness and, above all, precision, especially when finishing. The shot efficiency in the first three games was 4.49 percent – a miserable value. Only one of the four goals scored the Swiss in five against five field players. There were two hits in the power play (success rate 18.18 percent), but this wasn’t really convincing either.
So far, Gregory Hofmann, normally a goal guarantor, has not been up to speed at all. The Zug striker has been a shadow of himself so far. Not only has he not scored a point so far, he also has a minus 3 record like Sven Andrighetto (an assist) and Denis Malgin. The two ZSC Lions forwards got the -3 against the Danes.
To Malgin’s credit, he made his first assignment in Beijing after a positive corona test, which resulted in isolation in a hotel room. It is clear that more must come from this trio, as the three are the most gifted scorers in the team.
As sobering as the group stage was for the Swiss, the good thing is that the tournament only really gets going this week, as no team is eliminated in the preliminary round. Now two wins are simply necessary to reach the goal of fighting for the medals starting Friday.
Sometimes it doesn’t take much for it to click, as the Germans proved in Pyeongchang when they narrowly missed out on Olympic gold. Fischer speaks of the “Week of Truth” and that four defeats would be a scandal. The team now has to prove that they are indeed at a different point.
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