Incredibly, it was the first time in four games, dating back to 2010, that the Czechs have defeated the Swiss. Their last win was back in 2008.

The game had no meaning in the standings as the Czechs had already secured third place and the Swiss fourth, but you wouldn’t have known it for the effort of both sides.

“I’m really proud of our guys," offered Swiss coach Glen Hanlon. "It was a tough game for us against Canada – we know what the score was – and going into the next round we wanted to come out with solid effort and that was our best game tonight in terms of scoring chances, movement on the power play, scoring a goal on 5-on-3. We liked our penalty kill and Reto Berra, our goalie, was sensational. It turned out to be a great game.”

The Czechs will now play Finland in Prague while the Swiss will play the United States on Thursday.

"It was a tough game," said Czech captain Jakub Voracek. "It shows how good of a team Switzerland is. We stuck with it. We scored a big third-period goal and won in the shootout. It’s very important for us for the playoffs. Every game we came from behind. It’s good news for us."

Berra stopped 27 of 29 shots, many of which were in-close scoring chances, and certainly deserves consideration from coach Glen Hanlon to start the next game based on tonight's performance.

"I think in both the defensive zone and offensive zone we could be stronger," suggested Tomas Hertl.

An open first period produced entertaining hockey but only one goal. That came at the 16:56 mark with the Swiss enjoying a two-man advantage. Damien Brunner threaded a nice pass through the slot to Kevin Fiala on the back side, and Fiala’s one-timer snuck through the pads of Ondrej Pavelec coming across his crease.