Switzerland pulls off major upset over Sweden

In the biggest upset of the 2019 World Juniors and one of the most significant in recent years, the fourth-ranked team in Group A, Switzerland, beat the top-ranked Group B team, Sweden, 2-0 after a terrific 41-save performance from Luca Hollenstein in the Swiss net.

The loss served as the first time that Sweden had been shutout in a World Junior game since December 26, 2006 when Team Canada opened up with two first-period goals to win 2-0. It also was Switzerland's first quarter-final victory since they beat Russia back at the 2010 World Juniors.

Back in May, Sweden won gold at the 2018 World Hockey Championships over Switzerland in a 3-2 shootout victory.

Sweden hasn't lost a World Junior round robin game since December 31, 2006, but they only have one gold medal in that time frame. So, it wasn’t overly shocking that they found themselves down in the quarter-finals, but nobody likely expected Switzerland to play at the level they did.

At 15:23, Yannick Bruschweiler would open up the scoring despite the Swedes getting some of the better scoring chances early. Bruschweiler would join the rush and beat Samuel Ersson below the glove, a goal that the Philadelphia Flyers prospect will want back after he looks at the tape.

People were urgently waiting to see if the Swedes would answer back, but after some incredible goaltending at both ends, the Swiss took the surprising 2-0 advantage. Playing in just his first game of the tournament, Lucas Wyss would score for the Swiss after Sandro Schmid and Matthew Verboon both were stopped by Ersson, with Wyss knocking in the rebound through the legs of the Swedish goaltender to make it 2-0 with six minutes to go in the second.

Follow me on Twitter, @StevenEllisNHL.

Tweets by @eurohockey