It was a strange first period. Canada scored very early and very late, but in between Switzerland was dominant. The Canadians opened the scoring just 53 seconds after puck drop when Jake Muzzin’s point shot trickled through the pads of Reto Berra and was nudged over the goal line by Tyler Seguin.

But the Swiss were determined not to let Canada waltz to an easy win. They peppered Mike Smith with some decent shots and believed they were rewarded with a goal at 5:10 off a mad scramble in the crease. Video review showed the puck hadn’t crossed the goal line.

Undaunted, the Swiss continued to press and tied the game at 6:21 when Morris Trachsler fired a shot at Smith from behind the icing line. The puck went off the goalie and in, a bad error, to be sure.

Despite their superior play, the Swiss couldn’t capitalize on several defensive errors by the Canadians. Seguin coughed the puck up at the Swiss blue line, allowing Andres Ambuhl to walk in alone. He snapped a shot into Smith’s body, though, wasting a great chance.

Then as the period was drawing to a close, Nathan MacKinnon broke down the left wing and called for a pass. Jason Spezza obliged, and MacKinnon drilled a wicked wrist shot over the glove of Berra with only 17.6 seconds left on the clock. Canada led 2-1 in improbable fashion.

"I got lucky, I guess," a humble MacKinnon said. "Caught the post. It turned out to be a nice shot. But don’t expect those again all the time. I just wanted to get a shot on net. It was late in the period and thankfully it went in."

The second period was more definitive as Canada stepped up its game and sharpened its focus on defence. The result was three goals, two in the final minute. Aaron Ekblad made it 3-1 with a close-in blast at 7:59 off a nice setup from Couturier.

Then, at 18:15 the Swiss incurred a minor penalty for too many men. This in itself isn’t anything special, but it marked the fifth time in six games the Swiss have been called for six skaters (They later incurred a second such violation in the game.). Something is clearly amiss at the bench.

That call also cost the team dearly. A Sidney Crosby shot hit the post, and before Berra could locate the puck Jordan Eberle knocked it in with 59.5 seconds remaining.

Then, as time expired, Cody Eakin did much the same, knocking in a puck from the crease after Berra failed to trap a long shot. The play went to video review, which clearly showed 1.3 seconds on the clock as the puck went in.

Damien Brunner made the score a bit closer at 2:17 of the third off a bad giveaway by Matt Duchene, but Canada made it 6-2 when Couturier knocked in another rebound, this off a Tyler Toffoli shot.

An unguarded Claude Giroux knocked in another rebound at 17:08 to close out the scoring.