168 days after the defeat in the World Cup final, Switzerland was unable to take revenge against the Czech Republic. In Helsinki, Patrick Fischer’s team lost 5-2 in the final meeting of the Finnish part of the Euro Hockey Tour.
The day after its 4-3 success against Sweden on penalties, this time it was very far from the mark. The poor performance of Stéphane Charlin weighed heavily in the balance. Guilty on the first two opposing successes, the Langnau goalkeeper had to give up his place after the initial period to Gilles Senn.
The absences of Dean Kukan, Christian Marti, Denis Malgin and Sven Andrighetto, released by Patrick Fischer to join the Zurich Lions (the only Swiss team with Fribourg, which did not have any selected, to travel) before the round of 16 of the Champions League Tuesday in Germany, also weighed. The quartet left a void that has not been filled.
Chanton and Ambühl save honor
Giancarlo Chanton and the eternal Andres Ambühl scored the two Swiss successes. The Geneva defender signed the 1-1 with a magnificent throw in the 13th minute. Already a scorer against Finland on Thursday, the 21-year-old from Solothurn scored points during this rally and now has more goals in the selection than in the championship.
As for captain Andres Ambühl, he scored 3-2 in the 44th minute to remind us, on the day of his… 338th selection, that he remained an essential player at 41, even if it was only his first success of the season.
ats/btro
Swiss
