Belarus winner of the Arosa Challenge 2013

Some stats before the game begins: Switzerland won 16, lost 8 games and played 1 tie against the Belorussian team. Of the last 7 games Switzerland left the ice as winner, last time was at the World Championship in Stockholm 2013.

In front of a sell-out crowd (2'051) tried to get a starting momentum on their side but it was the Swiss squad who got a chance to play on a one-man advantage after Kirill Kotovets was assessed with a 2 minute minor for Interference. The Swiss installed their powerplay quickly but Kevin Lalande stayed cool and kept his goal clean. Only 2 minutes after it was Julien Vauclair that took place on the bench for high sticking.  The Belorussian powerplay didn't last long as Sergej Kostitsyn eventually took place in the coolbox for holding the stick. And only minutes later, it was Yevgeni Kovyrshin for a cross-check to give the Swiss another powerplay. No goals there but the Swiss were awarded yet another 5 on 4 as Oleg Yevenko played the puck over the glass in his own zone. But the Swiss boys weren't that disciplined themselves and gave away their advantage as Captain Martin Plüss was sent to the bench for interference.

In the 14th minute it was Luca Cunti with a good chance but Lalande kept the puck out of the goal, but Cunti who probably thought the puck was still loose hit Lalande and was assessed with a 2 minute minor for slashing. No goals on the powerplay for Belarus and so the first period ended goalless but with 7 minor penalties, 3 for Switzerland, 4 for Belarus.

2nd period, again both teams tried to come out strong and in the 24th minute the referees had to review a supposed goal by video. The refs called it a good goal and so Ryan Gardner's goal was the first on the scoreboard. He was assisted by Martin Plüss and Thibaut Monnet. Now the game became a little more intense, the Belorussians trying to tie the score and the Swiss pushing to score the 2nd goal. Instead, Robin Grossmann was sent to the bench for 2 minutes for interference after 29 minutes. With a precise shot from the face-off circle it was Sergei Kostitsyn assisted by Vladimir Denisov and Aleksandr Kitarov who scored on the powerplay. In the 34th minute it was Andrei Stas who got the puck by Benjamin Conz unassisted. The Belorussians now seemed to have the upper hand on the game and created a few good scoring chances while the Swiss had some trouble to start up their game they had played so well during the past game. In the last minute of the 2nd period some confusion was created in front of the Belorussian goalie which resulted in a 5 on 3 situation for Switzerland.

The 3rd period began with a 2 man advantage and Switzerland was going for the second goal, providing Lalande with a load of shots and in the 42nd minute it was Denis Hollenstein who scored the equalizer unassisted as just seconds before Andrei Stas had been sent to the bench for Slashing. The Swiss were able to continue with a man advantage and fire shots on the Belorussian goalie who showed a few great saves during penalty killing. After these busy minutes, the game flattened, the puck went back and forth but without any fortune for any of the two teams.

With little less than 3 minutes to go, the crowd cheered their typical "Hopp Schwiiz" chants but the efforts failed and no more goals were scored during the regular game time. A 5 minute overtime or a shoot-out would have to decide the winner of the 2013 Arosa Challenge.

With 4 on 4 the players now had a bit more space to move and pass the puck which made the game quicker and brought back some much missed intensity from the 3rd period. Despite a some shots on both sides neither team was able to capitalize on those chances and the shoot-out would decide.

After 3 shooters each Team had scored 1 goal and with the fourth round it was Sergei Demagin who got the puck passed Conz. Andres Ambühls second attempt was then kept off by Lalande.

All in all, Belarus was the lucky winner and will go home with the mountain crystal as the Arosa Challenge winner.

Tweets by @eurohockey