The Swiss won the match against their arch-rivals in Ostrava 3:1. Now the national ice hockey team is playing for the medals for the first time since 2018.
The Swiss national ice hockey team is in the semifinals of the World Championship in the Czech Republic. Coach Patrick Fischer’s team beat Germany 3:1 thanks to a double goal scorer from Christoph Bertschy.
The Swiss had everything under control and were leading 2-0 when Andrea Glauser received his team’s second penalty of the match in the 32nd minute. Four seconds later, after Wojciech Stachowiak won a face-off and a shot by Bern striker Dominik Kahun, the score was only 2-1 for the Eisgenossen.
Swiss defeat quarter-final curse
Unpleasant memories came back. At the 2021 World Cup in Riga, the Swiss were already 2-0 up against Germany in the quarter-finals. Back then, they had to accept the 2-2 equalizer 44 seconds before the end of regular time and then lost in the penalty shootout. Would events repeat themselves, would the Swiss really lose a knockout game against the DEB selection for the fifth time in a row?
This time the Swiss held tight at the back, although they conceded two avoidable penalties after the 1:2 – one because there were too many players on the ice and one because Sven Senteler put the puck into the opponent’s goal after the half-time siren. However, the Swiss no longer acted confidently, but they defended passionately and as a result did not concede a goal for the sixth game in a row with the numbers tied. And 58 seconds before the end, Bertschy, who had already made it 1-0 (8th), made everything clear with the redeeming 3-1 into the empty German goal.
Leadership thanks to shorthander
“They may be a little afraid of us,” said German top scorer John Peterka before the game. That wasn’t the case at first. The Swiss, with Leonardo Genoni guarding the goal as expected, were well prepared for their arch-rivals. They went to work very aggressively and initially gave the Germans hardly any space.
And when Andres Ambühl received a penalty in the 6th minute, the Swiss not only survived it, they even took the lead. Bertschy intercepted a pass, stormed off and beat the poorly positioned German NHL keeper Philipp Grubauer despite pressure from an opponent. It got even better: Nico Hischier increased the lead to 2-0 in the 17th minute after a German deflected a shot from Jonas Siegenthaler onto his stick. Hischier, the number 1 draft pick in 2017, was successful for the sixth time in this tournament.
Semi-final opponents still open
After returning to Prague, the Swiss will meet Canada in the semi-finals on Saturday, provided that unbeaten Sweden lives up to its role as favorite against Olympic champion Finland in the evening. Otherwise, Switzerland’s semi-final opponents will be the USA or the hosts, the Czech Republic.