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Swiss climb standings

Germans fall 1-0 in tense, critical game

Published 05.05.2015 22:07 GMT+2 | Author Andrew Podnieks
Swiss climb standings
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC - MAY 5: Switzerland's Denis Hollenstein #70 celebrates at the bench after scoring a third period goal against Germany during preliminary round aciton at the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/HHOF-IIHF Images)
Denis Hollenstein broke a scoreless tie with a goal at 12:16 of the third period to give the Swiss a 1-0 win over Germany on a steamy Tuesday afternoon.

Leonardo Genoni was perfect in the Swiss cage, stopping all 18 German shots to earn the shutout.

Timo Pielmeier was just one shot less efficient, stopping 17 of 18. Both goaltenders were named player of the game for their respective teams.

"It was a very important game for us," said Swiss forward Kevin Romy. "We know with Germany, it’s always a big battle against these guys. The whole team just stayed patient. That was the key word after the second period. We just had to keep playing, keep putting the puck deep, and bringing the puck to the net, and we were going to get a goal. That’s what happened for us."

The win solidifies Switzerland's third place status in Group A behind Canada and Sweden while the Germans remain in fifth place for now, pending the results of tonight's Austria-France game.

"We’re probably a little frustrated right now," admitted German Tobias Rieder. "I think Switzerland was beatable today. We just didn’t create enough offensively. We had a lot of power-play chances, but we couldn’t really set up in their zone and couldn’t get anything done. That was the main thing in the end. They just created more chances and finally they found one."

Hollenstein's goal came as a result of some pressure off a shoot-in by Kevin Romy, who forced Yannic Seidenberg into giving up the puck. Damien Brunner then fired a perfect pass to Hollenstein who was alone in front. He made a quick move and roofed a backhand over the glove of Timo Pielmeier.

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"We just got the puck deep and Romy made some pressure in the corner," Brunner described. "They came up strong side, and I kind of tried to read it. Denis was all alone. I saw him already before the puck went to me. I just threw it right in front, and he had great patience. It was a really nice goal."

The Swiss are right back at it, playing another crucial game tomorrow afternoon against Latvia. The Germans have a day off before facing Sweden on Tuesday night.

The first period was scoreless and not easy to watch. Both teams were raggedy, unable to make consecutive passes or move the puck to the goal with any purpose. Scoring chances were scarce, and fans had little to cheer about. Each team had a power play, and each was ineffective.

It was more of the same in the second period as teams continue to struggle with offence. Perhaps the best chance of the game came midway though when Matthias Bieber had a point-blank shot, but he drilled it into the midsection of Pielmeier.

That set the stage for Hollenstein's third-period heroics.

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