For its second match in the Olympic tournament in Beijing, Switzerland lost 2-1 on pens against the Czech Republic. Switzerland will have to react against Denmark on Saturday.
It is now a certainty, the Swiss team will have to go through the round of 16. By losing against the Czechs, the players of Patrick Fischer have grilled a good possibility of reviving.
After a fairly closed game, the two teams found themselves on penalties. And in this particular exercise, it was Filip Pesan’s players who had the last word. Only David Krejci, a former Boston Bruins artificer, found the fault, while the five Swiss shooters broke their teeth on Simon Hrubec.
Another autogoal
Before this outcome, Switzerland had started the match by conceding the opener in the 5th. A goal fell when Raphael Diaz had been out of the penalty box for a few seconds. Unable to send the puck out of their defense zone, Patrick Fischer’s players paid a high price for a mess in front of Genoni. Mirco Müller pushed the puck on the skate of Yannick Weber who couldn’t do anything to avoid an autogoal. Definitely, the Helvetians are not varnished with the involuntary deviations since it is already a success against his camp of Corvi which had cost the only success against the Russians.
Still without Denis Malgin or Dario Simion, the national team’s attack had a lot of trouble creating danger in front of goalkeeper Simon Hrubec. Out of his isolation, Malgin was available, but Fischer preferred to leave some time at the center of the Zurich Lions to revive his cardio.
Author of the equalizer in the 9th after a good effort, Gaëtan Haas was the most restless Swiss. Very comfortable, the Bienne has in any case shown more than Enzo Corvi. Driver of the first line, Graubünden must absolutely raise his level of play for the rest of the tournament. Similar observation concerning Grégory Hofmann, more struggling than against the Russians.
And now Denmark
The white cross players, however, could have finished with a new zero in the standings if Tomas Hyka had not missed a mountain in 57th. Faced with an empty cage, the Chelyabinsk striker was unable to control a slightly bouncy puck.
As in Wednesday’s encounter against the Russians, the Swiss got a huge chance late in the game. Beautifully launched by Bertschy, Moser missed the winning goal in the 58th minute.
Switzerland will end this qualifying round on Saturday at 2:10 p.m. against Denmark’s Heinz Ehlers. After having surprised the Czechs, the Danes also suffered the law of the Russians (2-0). The Danish lock of the former mentor of Lausanne and Langnau will be difficult to break through. But the Swiss will have to get there if they do not intend to finish last in their group and face a higher caliber opponent in the knockout matches.
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