Switzerland Comes Back Big in Win Over Canada

Three unanswered goals gave Switzerland a 3-2 overtime over Canada, creating one of the biggest upsets of the tournament.

Canada absolutely dominated the start of the game, leading the shot count 14-1 after just ten minutes of play. Canada easily was able to make it 1-0 early after sustained pressure allowed Ryan O'Reilly to take the puck at the side of the net on the power play. The Buffalo Sabres star typically does well in that position, skating in front of the net briefly to get the puck between Jonas Hiller's legs, scoring on his own rebound to make it 1-0 after 4:22 in the game.

Two minutes after that, Canada scored again. This time, KHL defenceman Chris Lee got the puck towards the net, landing on the stick of Mitch Marner. Marner then spun around and backhanded it towards the net, with the puck hitting Romain Loeffel and in for the second goal of the game. 

It's been a tough tournament for Loeffel, who has had two pucks deflect off of him in the tournament. As well, it signaled the end of the night for Hiller, with the former NHL goaltender getting pulled in favour of Leonardo Genoni for the remainder of the game. Hiller allowed two goals on ten shots as Canada controlled the first period completely.

Switzerland didn't back down, though, and held on during the second period. And at 6:37 on the power play, Switzerland was able to score their first of the game to cut Canada's lead in half. Fabrice Herzog had lost his stick in a prior play, resulting in him picking up a backhanded stick while cutting in around the net. The defencemen then picked up the loose disk near the crease and backhanded it over Calvin Pickard, giving Switzerland a chance in the second.

Then, three minutes later, Switzerland tied the game up. It was one that Pickard would want back after Vincent Praprlan poked in a feed into the middle from Dennis Hollenstein, knotting the contest up with 11 minutes to go. 

In a shocking result for Canada, Switzerland managed to win the game. After furious action at both ends, Herzog dangled Chris Lee in the offensive zone before backhanding the puck past Pickard and in, giving Switzerland the shocking come-from-behind 3-2 victory in the shootout.

Switzerland will have a quick turnaround with a Sunday afternoon meeting with Finland, a game featuring two teams who are looking to advance to the quarter-finals. Canada will meet up with Norway on Monday before finishing off the round robin against Finland on Tuesday.

Follow me on Twitter, @StevenEllisNHL.

Tweets by @eurohockey