The last two preliminary round games at the Ice Hockey World Championship are a must for the Swiss, who have already reached the quarter-finals. They solved the first against Hungary with a 10-0 win.
18.05.2025, 22:45
18.05.2025, 23:02
SDA
The biggest challenge for Swiss national coach Patrick Fischer is to bridge the time until the quarter-finals on Thursday in a meaningful way. How do you keep the tension high when the opponents are no longer a challenge and there is practically nothing at stake from a Swiss perspective? They have practically secured second place in the group and can only take first place if the Czech Republic lose to Germany on Monday.
The first thing Fischer did on Sunday night against Hungary was to give the congenial ZSC dream duo of Sven Andrighetto (six goals and one assist in the first five games) and Denis Malgin (seven assists) as well as NHL defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler a break.
Ambühl's hat trick
Six players took advantage of this to score their first World Championship goals of the year. Andres Ambühl scored a hat-trick on his way to 10-0 with goals at 1-0, 7-0 and 9-0 - goals 29 to 31 in the record-breaking player's 147th World Championship game.
Timo Meier and Dominik Egli also scored twice, Janis Moser, Andrea Glauser and Kevin Fiala once each. All of them were successful for the first time at this World Cup, Egli for the first time ever. The Swiss thus recorded their highest victory at these World Championships, their first ever victory.
No yardstick
The promoted team, who had never managed to stay in the A group in modern times, was not a yardstick. This raises the question of what Fischer can do to ensure that his players are ready to face a more serious opponent in the quarter-finals. Leonardo Genoni had to fend off six (!) shots for perhaps his easiest shutout in a national team uniform. Even if he had let them all in, Switzerland would still have won. If there's anything to criticize, it's the powerplay. When outnumbered, the Swiss created fewer scoring chances than with the same number of players.
Games like the one against Hungary, and presumably against Kazakhstan on Tuesday, are no advertisement for a World Cup with 16 teams. Of the first 45 World Cup matches, a third ended with resounding victories with a difference of five or more goals. The Swiss have conceded just one goal in their last four games.
Telegram:
Hungary - Switzerland 0:10 (0:2, 0:3, 0:5)
Herning. - 2846 spectators. - SR Brander/Ofner (FIN/AUT), Beresford/Briganti (GBR/USA). - Goals: 6. Ambühl (Egli, Moser) 0:1. 8. Meier (Kukan) 0:2. 32. Egli (Glauser, Fiala) 0:3. 34. Meier (Moy, Fiala) 0:4. 36. Moser (Baechler, Meier) 0:5. 51. (50:03) Egli (Moser, Meier) 0:6. 51. (50:51) Ambühl (Schmid, Marti) 0:7. 55. Glauser (Jäger, Knak) 0:8. 59. (58:53) Ambühl (Moser, Fora) 0:9. 60. 59:20) Fiala (Moy, Marti) 0:10. - Penalties: 3 times 2 minutes against Hungary, 2 times 2 minutes against Switzerland.
Hungary: Vay; Garat, Milan Horvath; Hadobas, Ortenszky; Szabo, Szathmary; Tornyai; Szongoth, Hari, Gallo; Erdely, Papp, Vincze; Bence Horvath, Nagy, Mihalik; Ambrus, Nemeth, Mihaly, Laskawy.
Switzerland: Genoni; Kukan, Berni; Glauser, Moser; Fora, Marti; Egli; Meier, Moy, Fiala; Riat, Jäger, Hofmann; Bertschy, Schmid, Knak; Baechler, Ambühl.
Remarks: Switzerland without Hischier (injured), Siegenthaler, Andrighetto, Malgin (rested), Aeschlimann, Jung, Rohrbach (not in the line-up) and Charlin (substitute goalie). Post shots: Glauser (5th), Fiala (14th) - Shots: Hungary 6 (3-1-2); Switzerland 37 (11-10-16). - Powerplay score: Hungary 0/2, Switzerland 0/2.
