With the 3rd loss in a row Switzerlands chances are vanishing

12 May 2014 | Andreas Reiner

Belarus was too strong for the Swiss who lost the game 4:3. Game winner was Sergei Kostitsyn with two goals.

After loosing games to Russia and the United States winning against Belarus was mandatory for the young Swiss squad if they wanted to keep up chances to qualify for the quarterfinals. But the Swiss had a bad start as Sergei Kostitsyn scored a shorthanded goal in the 6th minute but at least Yannick Weber was able to score the equalising goal on the powerplay just seconds later. Another shorthanded goal, this time for Reto Schäppi 2 minutes before the end of the first period gave the Swiss a first lead. The lone goal by Andrei Stas in the middle period meant that the Belarusian team tied the game 2:2. Etienne Froidevaux who had been added to the Team today scored on his first shot at 44 minutes but the Swiss didn't have the coolness, having trouble to remove the puck from their own zone time and time again and giving Sergei Kostitsyn another chance to score his second goal of the evening with just 10 minutes left in the game. It was clear that the next goal would decide and with 2 minutes to go it was Mikhail Grabovski who scored the unassisted game winning goal. The chances for the home team to make the quarterfinals are excellent with 2 wins out of 3 games. For Switzerland chances are slim, wins against Finland, Latvia, Germany and Kazakhstan are a must.