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Forsberg notches OT winner
Forsberg notches OT winner
Sweden survives scare, beat Swiss 2-1 on power play
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC - MAY 9: Sweden's Elias Lindholm #28 scores a first period goal against Switzerland's Leonardo Genoni #63 while Matthias Bieber #48, Victor Rask #49 and Mark Streit #7 look on during preliminary round action at the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/HHOF-IIHF Images)
"I’ve never played alongside him before, but you can just tell he’s got a tremendous talent, the way he handles the puck," Oscar Moller said of Forsberg. "He’s a big body, tremendous skater. He had a bit of a breakout season this year, and it’s just the start of his career. Hopefully he’ll keep delivering."
It was a game in which Switzerland was equal, if not superior to, Sweden, but some lack of touch around the goal and some fine play by Jhonas Enroth proved the difference.
The win gives Sweden 13 points, two behind Canada, although Tre Kronor has only one game remaining now, an evening date with France on Tuesday.
"It was better than the last game, obviously," said Joakim Lindstrom, referencing the team's close 4-3 win over Germany. "We knew beforehand that it was going to be tight to score goals and to get in front there. But we got the win, and that’s the one thing that matters."
The Swiss remain in fourth place with nine points, but they have two very tough games remaining, tomorrow against Canada and Tuesday against the Czech Republic.
"There are certain points we can be proud of," said Swiss defenceman Eric Blum. "We came into the overtime against a really good Swedish team. But at the end, we lost. We were playing for the win. It’s a disappointment in the end, for sure."
“We wanted to win this hockey game badly, to show that we’re ready for the world’s top teams,” Switzerland head coach Glen Hanlon commented.
The Swedes opened the scoring on some soft hands in close. Victor Rask feathered a nice little pass to Elias Lindholm, and he redirected the puck past Leonardo Genoni at 7:17.
Continue readingThe Swiss thought they had tied the game at 12:40. On a lengthy puck possession during a delayed penalty, the puck came loose with Enroth down. Mark Streit took the quick shot, and it landed under the goalie’s pads. The referees signalled a goal, but video review showed that the puck hadn’t fully crossed the goal line.
Perhaps no team plays with a lead better than Sweden (excepting the Canada game last week), and they “played their game” to perfection, moving the puck out of their end with seamless efficiency and keeping the Swiss at bay. Switzerland had but two shots in the middle period and seven through 40 minutes.
There was one notable exception in the second period, when the puck bounced over the stick of defenceman John Klingberg inside the Swiss blue line. Kevin Fiala swooped in and grabbed the loose disc and tore down the ice, beating Enroth with a move but then hitting the post with his backhand.
The Swiss tied the game just 34 seconds into the final period on a strange, video-reviewed goal. Eric Blum took a point shot that fluttered towards the goal, hitting something in front before changing direction and beating Enroth. Video seemed to show it hitting the helmet of Simon Bodenmann, so it was called a "good hockey goal." Just not pretty.
Both teams had great chances to win in regulation. Roman Josi hit the post with one shot as did Oscar Klefbom for the Swedes late in the game on another power play. Neither hit the twine, forcing overtime.
“I think we’ve had enough scoring chances to take three points, but we didn’t, so I’m unhappy about that,” Swedish head coach Par Marts said. “But I think it was a good game.”
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