Canada play first and only preparation game, blank Switzerland 4:0

Only 2 minutes into the game Alex Burrows was benched for Slashing which gave the Swiss a first powerplay opportunity. It was visible that the Canadians had just come together and only played a few shits on their lines and it was also eminent that the Swiss had already been training together for over 3 weeks, the lines fitted together more or less. But never underestimate Canada when they're playing for their country. And that's what happened with 6 minutes on the clock. Huberdeau came storming from the left, passed the puck to Matt Read who scored on Goalie Reto Berra a first time. The minutes first minutes passed by with neither Team able to create dangerous chances. With a little less than 4 minutes left a meet and greet between Nathan MacKinnon and Thomas Rüfenacht ended with a minor for both for Roughing, it was the first time that the crowd woke up as both players handed each other a face palm. It was Ryan Ellis at 18:15 who scored the goal at the near right post, somehow squeezing the puck over the line. But it got worse when Rüfenacht was assessed with the second minor for Slashing and 10 seconds later Simon Moser joined for Boarding. With the dying seconds of the first period the Swiss avoided a third goal.

With 27 seconds played in the second period the Canadian powerplay struck when Kyle Turris scored the 3rd goal of the evening, assisted by MacKinnon and Nazem Kadri. The Swiss now came closer to scoring the first goal but a real dangerous chance hadn't come up yet. At halftime of the game, the Canadians changed goalies, for James Reimer came Ben Scrivens. At 33 minutes Canada took a time out but without any apparent reason. Still the Swiss were not on the scoreboard but with Kevin Fiala who is required to wear a cage due to his age (17 years old!) had a forward who played a great game as he replaced injured Simon Bodenmann. The second period ended with one goal on Canada's count but the Fans obviously were hoping for at least one goal from the Swiss Squad.

With 4 minutes played in the final period Brayden Schenn was benched for Cross-Checking but there was nothing to pick up for the Swiss Squad during the powerplay. But the Swiss were granted another chance when Sean Monahan was assessed with a minor for High Sticking with 11 minutes left in the game. Now the Swiss created a few chances, challenging Ben Scrivens but there still was a big fat 0 on the scoreboard for Switzerland. And this was and still is the biggest problem for the Swiss. They lack a bunch of coldblooded scorers and Canada as well as Germany disclosed this weakness bluntly. In the last 3 preparation games the Swiss managed to score 1 goal which is simply not enough at an international level. For the Canadians on the other hand, their first and only prep-game was a success, they now have 4 more days before they start their World Championship campaign against France. With 4 minutes left both Yannick Weber and Erik Gudbranson were benched for Roughing. With a breakaway Nathan MacKinnon scored his first goal of the evening assisted by Tyler Myers at 58:03. And with that, a disappointed Swiss Team was sent off under little applause by the home crowd except for young Kevin Fiala who played a very good game, and might get a chance to play with the big boys this coming Friday.

Head Referees: Danny Kurmann, Didier Massy
Linesmen: Nicolas Flury, Michael Tscherrig

Spectators @Hallenstadion: 7'041

1. Goal 6. Minute, Read (Assist: Huberdeau), 2. Goal 19. Minute, Ellis (Unassisted), 3. 21. Minute Turris (MacKinnon, Kadri), 4. 58. Minute. MacKinnon (Myers)

Switzerland: Berra, Genoni; Kukan, Seger (C); Josi (A), Schlumpf; Blum, Weber; Grossmann, Ramholt; Hollenstein, Cunti, Plüss; Moser, Froidevaux, Brunner; Suri, Ambühl (A), Fiala; Rüfenacht, Schäppi, Stancescu

Canada: Reimer, Scrivens; Monahan, Reinhart; Ellis, Myers; Garrison, Bieksa (A); Rielly, Gudbranson; Huberdeau, Schenn, Read; Chimera (A), Scheifele, Ward; Hodgson, Kadri, Brouwer; Burrows, Turris (A), MacKinnon

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