- Switzerland won the group final match against the Outsiders Great Britain 6: 3 at the World Ice Hockey Championships in Riga.
- With 5 wins in 7 matches, the national team will likely finish the group stage in second place, if you surprise Belarus against Russia, even as they win the group.
- If the Russians are not surprised by the end of the preliminary round, Switzerland will meet the third-placed team in Group B in the quarter-finals on Thursday (the winner of the Germany-Latvia match).
Switzerland allowed the British to play until 2-2. Then, in the middle of the match, Patrick Fisher’s team decided to go to the turbo in the final match of the group stage of the World Cup in Riga. After 7 minutes it was 6: 2. Santteri Alatalo (31) opened the fireworks display in excess, Christophe Berchi doubled after just 13 seconds. And once again Berchi (37th place), who banished Rafael Diaz’s shot, and Niko Hescher (38) confirmed that the national team rose by four goals in the last third. Tristan Sheroy starred with three assists.
The last twenty minutes were more about the economic use of energy reserves. By the 50th minute, Switzerland had fallen in the number of deals to 50 (Great Britain 20), but was content with scoring the six goals. It was No. 22 to 27 in the group stage – an impressive number. The British were able to do some cosmetic results with Brendan Connolly (54th). He defeated Melvin Neville, who came to Ritu Pera in the final third.
Talented Mr. Kirk
After a long period of pressure, Gregory Hoffmann put Switzerland ahead with his sixth (tenth) goal. England star Liam Kirk leveled after just 37 seconds after a stick foul by Enzo Corvey – also with his sixth goal in the tournament. The Swiss did not let that sit on themselves. Roman Lovell flew around the target with a lot of (unintended) twisting in the Hulk (17th position), but the 2: 1 lead was well deserved with 19: 7 shots.
In the second trimester, Kirk is back in the power game (26th). With his seventh goal, the 21-year-old, who also counted 3-6, cemented his ambitions in the National Hockey League. But then, the Swiss switched speed and clearly made it clear who the boss was on the ice. In the quarter-finals, the national team will have to act at high speed for the duration of the match.
So it continues
Thanks to the fifth victory in the seventh and final match of the group stage, Switzerland finished at least in the preliminary round in second place, after which the opponent in the quarter-finals would be the winner in the duel between Germany and Latvia. If Russia unexpectedly loses to Belarus in the evening, Switzerland will be the group winner. The knockout matches of the quarter-finals will be held on Thursday at 3:15 pm and 7:15 pm respectively.