The team continues its winning streak as Canada wins over Switzerland in a hard-fought 3:2 victory in IIHF Men’s Hockey World Championship Prelims, placing themselves in a commanding position in the battle for first place in Group A. With all three goals scored on the power play, Canada now leads the group with 17 points.
Sunday night’s outcome hinged on Swiss ace Kevin Fiala’s second-period kneeing major and game misconduct, which opened the door for Canada to score twice with the man advantage.
For Canada, Dylan Cozens scored two goals, tying him with Finland’s Oliver Kapanen and the U.S.’s Brady Tkachuk for the tournament goals lead (six), and added an assist. Nick Paul had a single. Captain John Tavares had two assists and Andrew Mangiapane, the 2021 tournament MVP, had three helpers.
“We just played hard, won battles, made it difficult for them to get scoring chances around our net, and obviously capitalized when we got our chances,” said Tavares.
On Tuesday, the Swiss (14 points) wrap up their preliminary round versus Finland, while the defending champion Canadians battle host Czechia (15 points). Canada can clinch Group A by beating the Czechs.
“The Czechs have been having an unbelievable tournament, and we’ve been playing strong also,” said Canada’s Dawson Mercer. “It comes down to a final battle there in the round-robin, and I think it’ll be a really good match.”