SWISS MISS

Photo Credit: Larry Wong - Canwest News Service

Dany Heatley celebrates the first goal of the game as Switzerland battles Canada to the bitter end


Canadians residents can breathe easy now, but for a period of hockey, an overtime, and a shootout, their hockey team was almost dealt an unexpected loss to Team Switzerland in day 2 of pool play of the Olympics.

After Roberto Luongo shutout Team Norway in the opening game of pool play, Team Canada Head Coach elected to go with Devils goalie Martin Brodeur to face the Swiss. Things were looking good after Canada jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 2nd period thanks to goals from San Jose Sharks Dany Heatley (3rd goal of the tournament) and Patrick Marleau. Team Switzerland would fight back with goals from Ivo Ruthemann (who beat Brodeur high glove side) and then Patrick Von Guten's tally (the puck deflected off of Marleau in front of his own net) with 10 seconds remaining in the 2nd period.

The Canadians dominated the Swiss 18-3 on shots in the 3rd period, but Anaheim Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller turned away every one of them (45 saves total). After the overtime session, both Brodeur and Hiller would stop all three attempts. When they went to the additonal shooters, Sidney Crosby (remember, in the Olympics, after the first three shooters, you can use the same guy over and over again, unlike the NHL), Crosby fired one past Hiller for the win. Canada is now 2-2 all-time in shootouts at the Olympics.

Next up for the Swiss is Norway while the Canadians take on the United States on Sunday.

NOTES - Jarome Iginla left the ice dazed in the 2nd period after a Raffaele Sannitz hit and did not return. Sidney Crosby took an Andres Ambuhl stick to the face in the 3rd period and left the ice bleeding but returned shortly after.


If I'm a Team Canada fan, this game was certainly more of a scare than I wanted, but this was probably one of the best things that could have happened to Crosby and co. No one doubted Canada would beat Norway handidly, but the Swiss aren't a team that can be walked over like some of the other non-favorites. Jonas Hiller is a very good goalie (hence the Anaheim Ducks extended his contract four years just a few weeks ago) and when you have a hot goalie, you're capabale of beating any team. This game definitely serves as a wake up call to Team Canada that they can't play like this in any other game the rest of the tournament. In the same breath, give Switzerland credit. They played USA and Canada tough. They know when to attack, when to sit back, and should beat the Norwegians with no problem. I wouldn't want any part of the Swiss in the playoff round.


United States 6 - Norway 1

This is a misleading score as Brian Rafalski scored two late goals to give the Americans the inflated win. USA did have a 3-0 lead at the 5:32 mark of the 2nd period thanks to a Patrick Kane goal. But the Norwegians made the US sweat in the 2nd period as Marius Holtet scored a shorthanded goal and continued to barrage US goalie Ryan Miller to make it 3-1 heading in to the intermission. (Phil Kessel, Chris Drury, and Ryan Malone scored the other goals for Team USA)

If the US plays the way they played in the first two games, Team Canada will dominate the Americans in the last game of Pool A play. The US has had it's moments where it's looked absolutely dominant, but it has come against the Norwegians (one of the 3 worst teams in the Olympics), and a tough, but overmatched Swiss team. Ron Wilson moving Jamie Langenbrunner to the top line to play with Zach Parise and Paul Stastny was his first smart move (Parirse and Langenbrunner are linemates for the Devils) and moving Kane to play with Ryan Kesler and Bobby Ryan, giving the team scoring depth. The next step for Wilson is to figure out the United States' offensive problems. Yes they've scored nine goals in two games, but the Americans haven't been able to possess the puck for too long and keep the other team on it's heals in the attack zone. If they can't do that against Norway and Switzerland, what's to be expected against an all-world team like Canada.

Slovakia 2 - Russia 1 (SO)

In the second consecutive game to go to a shootout in these Olympics, it was the underdog that pulled through for the win this time. Pavol Demitra scored in the seventh round of the shootout to help the Slovaks past Alex Ovechkin and Russia 2-1 on Thursday. Russia's captain, Alexei Morozov opened the scoring in the 2nd period, but Marian Hossa would tie the game at 9:48 of the 3rd period. The goaltending would be the story in this game as Jaroslav Halak rebounded from a 3-1 loss to the Czech Republic with 36 saves while Ilya Bryzgalov (who got the start over Evgeni Nabokov) made 31 saves in the loss. The Russians get a long break, not playing again until Sunday against the Czech Republic while Slovakia faces Latvia on Saturday.

The Slovakian team was my dark horse team at the beginning of the tournament and they looked a lot more like it last night than they did in the first game. The Slovaks seemed tentative against the Czechs in their first game but they hung with Russia throughout the game. It was physical on both sides (did you see that Ovechkin blast of Chara?) and Jaroslav Halak showed why Carey Price's playing time in Montreal has dwindled this season. If Gaborik's knee laceration doesn't continue to bother him, the Slovaks can go far in this tournament (sounds like a scouting report of the Rangers) As good as the Russian team is, they are in the toughest pool and Sunday's game against the Czechs now becomes a must win. Ovechkin and his comrades are too talented and have too much of a chip on their shoulder to let this game affect them beyond last night.

TODAY'S SCHEDULE:

3PM - Sweden (1-0-0-0) vs. Belarus (0-1-0-0)
7:30PM - Latvia (0-1-0-0) vs. Czech Republic (1-0-0-0)
Midnight - Germany (0-1-0-0) vs. Finland (1-0-0-0) - GAME OF THE DAY

*All times Eastern