The Swiss men’s ice hockey team secured a place in the finals of the world championship with a crushing victory in the semi-finals on Saturday in Zurich and will fight for the gold medals for the third year in a row.
In the semi-finals, Switzerland defeated Norway 6-0 (1-0, 3-0, 2-0).
Already in the first minute of the match, Switzerland remained in the minority, but the Norwegians failed to create a dangerous attack in the opponent’s defensive zone. In the continuation of the first third, the Swiss also had two majorities, whose attempts to score a goal were stopped by the Norwegian goalkeeper Henrik Heukelann.
Nearing the end of the first period, Switzerland were put in the lead by Christophe Berchi, who sent the puck into the top corner of the goal.
At the beginning of the second period, Denis Malgin doubled the lead of the Swiss, but in the continuation of the third period, Ken Jaeger and Damien Riat still sent the puck into Norway’s goal, who scored the majority of goals and made it 4-0.
In the final third, another Swiss majority was closed by Nico Hischier with an accurate shot, and Theo Rochet scored the sixth Swiss goal two and a half minutes before the final whistle.
The goal of the Swiss national team was guarded by Leonardo Genoni, who saved all 20 opponents’ shots.
Switzerland have yet to lose a single match at this World Cup, defeating Sweden 3-1 in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Norway celebrated five victories and suffered two losses in the subgroup, occupying the second place in the group, but in the quarter-finals they defeated the Latvian national team 2-0.
On Saturday, in the second semi-final, which will start at 21, Canada and Finland will fight, the match will be broadcast live on the TV channel LTV 7.
In group A, the Latvian national team lost to Switzerland 2:4, beat Germany 2:0, lost to Austria 1:3, capitulated to Finland 1:7, defeated the USA 4:2, Great Britain 6:0 and Hungary 8:1, losing to Norway in the quarterfinals.
In the tournament, 16 teams were divided into two groups, playing seven games each. The top four teams in each group continued the fight for medals in the quarter-finals, but the last-placed teams of both groups, Great Britain and Italy, will leave the strongest division, to be replaced next year by Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
In the championships held in Sweden and Denmark last year, the Americans became world champions, beating Switzerland 1-0 in overtime in the final, while Sweden defeated Denmark 6-2 in the bronze medal match. Latvian ice hockey players won three victories in the subgroup and did not make it to the quarter-finals, finishing in tenth place.
World Championship In Zurich and Fribourg, it will end on May 31. Friborg hosted Group B matches and two quarter-final matches, while Zurich, in addition to Group A matches, also hosts two quarter-final matches, semi-final matches and medal matches.
