Canada is two victories away from its 29th world title, Switzerland from its… first! The team from across the Atlantic confirmed its place in the semi-finals by beating Slovakia 6-3 on Thursday. Nick Paul led the offense with two goals and an assist, Dylan Guenther added a goal and an assist, and the Canadians gave themselves a two-goal lead before the fifth minute of play in the first period, then controlled the proceedings.
The Swiss reached the final four for the first time since their silver medal in 2018 thanks to their 3-1 success against Germany, a revenge of the quarter-final lost last year in Riga. Christoph Bertschy opened and closed the scoring, once outnumbered and once in the empty cage.
Last meeting between the two teams
It’s only six days since the Canadians and the Swiss faced each other at the Men’s World Cup. In a preliminary round meeting last Sunday, Canada hit the target three times on the power play – two goals of Dylan Cozens and one from Paul – to inflict on our national team the first defeat of its tournament (read here).
Players to watch
Paul stood out to Team Canada fans by scoring the winning goal in overtime during the 2021 final, allowing Canada to obtain the most improbable of world titles and he is having a tournament worthy of his performances in Riga. The chemistry works between him and his linemates Jared McCann And Connor Bedard (Or Dylan Guenther at right wing occasionally): Paul had six points (3-3—6) in eight games. The Mississauga native is coming off a fantastic season in Tampa Bay, where he posted career highs in goals (24), assists (22) and points (46). He is aiming for a third gold medal in as many appearances on the international scene, having also been part of the junior national team that won gold at the World Juniors in Toronto in 2015, scoring a goal in the final against the Russia.
Added late to the Swiss roster, Kevin Fiala had a considerable impact. He joined the delegation after the Swiss’ first two games following the elimination of the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL playoffs, and since then, he has managed to score six goals and five assists and climb into leading team scorers with Nico Hischier (6-5—11) and Roman Josi (3-8—11). He scored in regulation time and in a shootout in his first match against the Czech Republic, scored twice against Denmark, added a goal to his record against Canada and two more against Finland. Fiala is only two goals behind Canadian Cozens who leads the scorers ranking. He is an integral part of the most effective power play in the tournament. Switzerland has an efficiency rate of 29.4%, or 10 goals in 34 opportunities on the power play, and Fiala scored three times in such circumstances.
Retrospective
It will be the 36e duel between Canada and Switzerland, with the Canadians having won 27 of the first 35 (in addition to drawing twice). Their last clash in the medal round dates back to the quarter-finals of the 2019 edition in Kosice, Slovakia. Less than a second away from a hasty elimination, Damon Severson had equalized (4 tenths of a second from the final siren) before Mark Stone gives the Canadians victory in overtime. This is the second time the nations have met in the semi-finals. In 2018, Bo Horvat And Colton Parayko had set the strings vibrating, but Canada lost 3-2 in Copenhagen, following Swiss successes of Tristan Scherwey, Gregory Hofmann And Gaëtan Haas.
All time record
Canada leads 27-6-2 (4-2 in OT or SO)
Goals for Canada: 172
Goals for Switzerland: 56
(Source: Hockey Canada)
