Given Switzerland’s ambition in this tournament, this was a must-win game, against a weaker opponent, at least on paper. And that’s what they did with a very convincing win if we except a few minutes in the first period. Every line contributed offensively. Defensively, there were some approximations, especially on the penalty-kill, but at 5v5, the team was solid and Genoni was there if needed. Fischer shared the same analysis after this game.
Coach’s adjustment for this game
For this game, Fischer made some adjustments again. Simion, injured, is replaced by Praplan on the only line that was used in every game so far. Between the pipes, Genoni is the starting goalie. On defence, the pair Moser-Untersander pair replaced the Frick-Heldner.
First period
On the initial faceoff, Fischer is back again with his fourth line. And again, he was rewarded with a quick goal after 36 seconds. On a dump by Herzog, both him and Scherwey immediately put pressure on the defenceman and they’re accompanied by Siegenthaler along the board. This coordinated effort enables Bertschy to recover the puck at the offensive blue line and pass it to Scherwey behind the net, who finds again one of his teammates (Herzog) in the slot with a pass from below the goal line. On the rebound offered by the goalie, Bertschy is able to score.
In the first five minutes of the game, thanks to its aggressiveness and forecheck, the Swiss team was able to quickly recover the puck in all three zones and prevent the Belarus team to generate any chance and literally confiscate the puck. It allowed them to generate chances in the offensive zone. Walk-in plays following controlled zone entries (Hischier), forechecking sequences that lead to plays from below the goal line (Bertschy, Meier) or rush chances on individual efforts (Corvi).
Belarus was able to draw a penalty on a play behind Genoni’s net as Siegenthaler held his opponent. On the penalty-kill that followed, Belarus couldn’t generate much in the first ninety seconds. But an aggressive play at the defensive blue line from Bertschy and Geisser with Diaz and Scherwey speculating on a positive outcome opened a huge passing lane in front of Genoni with a 2-on-0. Fortunately, Stefanovich missed his one-timer. As Belarus was able to maintain possession of the puck, they generated another big chance at the end of the penalty, with Stefanovich again with a one-timer, following a royal road pass from a teammate. But Genoni read the play and was able to make the save look easy.
In the minutes that followed, Belarus was the most active team generating offence and was able to build on the momentum the power-play created. On a few sequences, they were able to establish the cycling in the offensive zone, but the Swiss defence was able to keep them on the outside. After 11 minutes, on a badly timed pinch from Untersander that freed some space behind him as the winger (Scherwey) wasn’t able to cover him, Stefanovich probably had the best chance of the period for the Belarus team from the top of the circles on a rush. Genoni was able to make the save.
5 minutes before the end of the period, Scherwey drew another (yes, another) penalty in the offensive zone. On the Swiss power-play, we saw the adjustments Fischer made to his two units. Meier took Simion’s place on the second unit, and Loeffel replaced Meier on the first. The staff also made some adjustments in terms of roles but it wasn’t as excellent as it was during the last games.
2 minutes before the end of the period, a perfectly placed Vermin was able to get a rebound on Meier’s shot and score. A few seconds earlier, on the zone entry that preceded this goal, Meier was able to find Andrighetto on a 2-on-1. Despite an open net, Andrighetto missed.
After 20 minutes: 1.12 xG for Switzerland, 0.52 xG for Belarus
Second period
As on the first goal, the Swiss started the period well. They put the 3-0 quickly with Andrighetto on a great shot with Meier screening the opposite goalie. After a dump by Meier, the three forwards from his line put pressure on the Belarus defence, which lost the puck in the middle of their defensive zone.
After this goal, the Swiss team had a few great chances on the rush (Praplan, Scherwey, Andrighetto, Loeffel, Hofmann), on sequences with possession of the puck in the offensive zone (Vermin, Meier) or right after the faceoff on a feed from Ambühl to Hischier from behind the net.
Despite the 3-goal lead, the Swiss team kept pushing and all lines were able to contribute. In this kind of games, this is probably one of the biggest evolution we’ve seen for the Swiss team at this level.
And it kept going better with that Hofmann’s goal. What a sequence and what a goal. There are a lot of good things Hofmann (+ Corvi) do in that sequence. First, Hofmann cuts the pass on Belarus’ zone exit. Second, he beats a first forechecker at his own blue line, is able to gain speed through the neutral zone and gets passed the defenceman at the offensive blue line. He recognizes Untersander as an option is able to connect through a Royal Road pass, but the angle isn’t good enough for Diaz to shoot. As the action continued, Corvi and Hofmann are able to connect on three passes (1 high-danger + 2 Royal Road) for the perfect goal.
After 40 minutes: 2.12 xG for Switzerland, 0.70 xG for Belarus
Third period
In the third, the Swiss continued its solid work in the defensive zone, especially at 5v5, where they didn’t allow much to the Belarus team, as they did all game long. If we except the chances that preceded Untersander’s penalty four minutes before the end of the game and the Belarus’ power-play that followed.
On the lone power-play they had in this period, the Swiss team managed to get many chances and again, through various ways. Loeffel had a few opportunity and notably on a Royal Road pass from Corvi, who played on the half wall on the right side of the rink. Used in the “Ovi” spot, a place where we’re used to see forwards, Loeffel unfortunately missed the (open) net.
They scored another two goals. The first on an easy controlled zone entry by Meier, he finds Vermin in the slot with a pass from below the goal line. And the last one came on a penalty-kill where Herzog only had to push the puck in the net after a breakaway from Hischier.
By the numbers
A 6-0 win can’t be really looking 6-0 on the stats but the Swiss finished the game way ahead of their opponents with 4.26xG to 1.67. Which gave them 82% chances of winning the game, the highest odds for the road team.
Before the game, Switzerland was largely behind its expected goals at 5v5 and they partially caught up tonight, scoring 5 goals out of 2.42xG, completely outplaying Belarus at even strength. The Swiss now stand with 11 goals for 15.39xG at 5v5 in the tournament. Getting there.
Belarus was really only dangerous on the Power Play, creating 0.70xG in 6 minutes, versus 0.95xG in 48 minutes of 5v5…
So, of course, Switzerland ends with better numbers on Walk-ins, Rushes, Royal-road plays, etc. They had 10 shots, and 2 goals, coming from high-danger passes where Belarus had nothing. The rebounds count shows 4-1 for Switzerland, and 3 goals to none.
Transition
Switzerland continues to show excellent zone exits numbers, with 78% of controlled exits tonight, including a 100% success rate when carrying the puck out of the zone. Yesterday we said the Russian gave a lot of troubles on dump recoveries, with a 43% success. Belarus only recovered 5% tonight. The Swiss defencemen worked well on those.
Goaltenders
A perfect “build back your confidence” game for Leonardo Genoni. Not a lot of work to do but still 17 shots against and 1.67 goals saved but he did it with a serious 82% shot control. He has now only allowed 0.7 goal above expectations (6 for 5.3 expected) in the tournament.
Offensive contribution
Timo Meier took upon him to lead the way. Only Hofmann created more on transition and Meier leads on xG Contribution with 15% of his team’s total. He ends with a 4/5 on exits, and a massive 6/9 on entries, 6 of them leading to a shot. Wait, I forgot 6 (yes 6) high-danger passes, all leading to a shot.
Otherwise, the usual names are up there, but Andrighetto had a rather quiet night. No worries, the team didn’t need everybody to beat Belarus.
Herzog has definitely carved his name into the top12 of the team now and Vermin has been really ok stepping up with Andrighetto and Meier. You can feel Hischier getting sharper as the tournament goes on. We don’t talk about the defence that much as the forwards do such a good job offensively but a Loeffel is getting comfortable.
One last repetition Tuesday before the serious stuff begin.
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Find more statistics tracked by Thibaud on his Tableau’s page here: https://public.tableau.com/profile/thibaud.chatel#!/vizhome/WorldChampionship2021/GameReport