2021 IIHF World Championships
Game 07
Great Britain 3 Switzerland 6
After a couple of days’ rest, Great Britain was back and roaring to go against table-topping Switzerland.
GB went toe-to-toe with the Swiss until their firepower overwhelmed the underdogs in the second half of the game.
There was no quit from Pete Russell’s charges and they could have made the scoreline a lot closer than it finished.
First Period
It was a fast start to the game with action at both ends of the ice.
Great Britain their first scoring chance at the four-minute mark.
Almost inevitably it was Liam Kirk at the heart of it.
A strong backcheck winning back possession before sliding a pass to Mike Hammond that created an odd-man rush. Unfortunately, Brendan Connolly was unable to provide a telling finish.
Great Britain was able to kill the first penalty of the game but would fall behind at the ten-minute mark.
A turnover on the left boards allowed Switzerland to transition the puck quickly into open ice and Gregory Hofmann was going to make a mistake for his sixth goal of the tournament.
Great Britain would trail for less than forty seconds.
Kirk pounced on a loose play by Enzo Corvi at the Swiss blue line and beat Reto Berra with a low far side finish in off the post.
Switzerland would retake the lead late in the period and carry the advantage into the intermission.
It was a shank of a shot from Romain Loeffel that bounced halfway between the point and Ben Bowns’ net.
With Mark Richardson unable to shift the Swiss away from the slot and flubbed an attempted kicking motion at the puck, Bowns was left completely screened on one of the weirdest goals of the tournament.
Brett Perlini had one chance to level the scoreline but drew a smart glove save from Berra.
Second Period
Christoph Bertschy almost extended Switzerland’s lead thirty seconds in but Bowns was equal to the task.
Nico Hischier showed his NHL class with a blistering break down the right-wing and looked a good bet to score as he cut across the crease.
Bowns made the save and the New Jersey forward was somewhat harshly penalised for goaltender interference after flattening Bowns in the follow-through.
Great Britain wasn’t complaining and made the man advantage count.
After Mike Hammond and Mark Richardson were both denied, up-stepped Kirk to slam home the rebound and the game was tied at 2-2.
Switzerland broke the game open with two goals thirteen seconds apart at the midway point of the period.
Santeri Alatalo’s shot on a power-play took two wicked deflections giving Bowns no chance.
From the face-off, Switzerland gave themselves a 4-2 lead with Tristan Scherwey feeding Bertschy for a tip-in goal.
Another redirect goal from Bertschy made it 5-2 after 36 minutes and less than two minutes later Hischier made it 6-2.
It was a hard lesson for Great Britain as all their mistakes were punished by a Swiss team who’ve done nothing but score since being shutout by Denmark in the second game of their campaign
Third Period
There were changes between the pipes for both teams for the final period. Jackson Whistle replaced Ben Bowns for GB and Melvin Nyffeler in for Reto Berra for Switzerland.
Great Britain went searching for a way back into the game and Sam Duggan was almost rewarded for a strong drive to the net but found his two efforts were frustratingly blocked.
GB kept Switzerland off the board including on another power play and continued to create opportunities at the other end of the ice.
A hard-working shift from the fourth line created a chance for Ollie Betteridge who wasn’t quite able to score on a diving finish from the slot.
The reward came with six minutes remaining.
Kirk won back possession in the offensive zone and started in motion a triangle tic-tac-toe play with Mike Hammond that resulted in a tap-in for Connolly.
Robert Dowd had the chance to make it two goals for GB in the space of thirty seconds but he was denied amid a mad scramble in front of Nyffeler.
There would be no fourth goal but Great Britain would win the third period 1-0.
A fitting way to end a tournament in which GB made history, new friends and proved to the hockey world that they deserve to compete at the top level.
GB Player of the Game: Mark Richardson
Post Game Notes:
Ben Bowns made 35 saves before he was relieved by Jackson Whistle. He was immense in the first period and this was yet another performance from which he can take a great deal of credit.
Liam Kirk. What more can be said? Two goals and an assist for his first three-point haul at this level.
At the time of writing, he leads the tournament with seven goals and is ranked second in scoring with nine points. He was dynamite at both ends of the ice and could easily have ended up with a couple more points in this outing. A devastating performance.
Line-up
Forwards
Kirk-Hammond-Connolly
Lake-Perlini-Dowd
Duggan-Myers-J.Phillips
Hook-Lachowicz-Betteridge
Venus
Defense
Tetlow-Richardson
O’Connor-D.Phillips
Ehrhardt-Clements
Swindlehurst
Goaltenders
Whistle
Bowns
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