MANNHEIM – Sean Simpson made a successful World Championship debut as Switzerland's head coach as his red-and-white troops beat Latvia 3-1 to open the tournament on Saturday.

Swiss goalie Martin Gerber outdueled his Latvian counterpart Edgars Masalskis for the win. Gerber, who starred in Switzerland's 2-0 win over Canada at the 2006 Olympics, missed weeks this season due to a neck injury he suffered in the KHL. Both were named Best Player for their teams after the game.

"It was a huge game for us tonight, huge to get these points in the standings," said Gerber. "Everybody was on their toes tonight. It was good to get an early goal and then we were on our way."

This was an important matchup, because along with Belarus, these two nations have moved into the second tier in international hockey. In other words, they're unlikely to challenge for a medal, but are certainly capable of landing a quarterfinal berth and throwing a scare into a “Big Seven” nation.

Last year's 2-1 win for Latvia over Switzerland in the Qualification Round helped seal the fate of the host Swiss, who failed to crack the final eight.

This game was as fiercely contested in the stands as it was on the ice, with the incessant chants and drum-pounding of the famous Latvian fans up against their singing, hopping, cow bell-ringing Swiss counterparts. Attendance was 7,089 at SAP Arena.

It only took 2:36 for Andreas Ambühl to open the scoring for Switzerland, backhanding a Thibaut Monnet rebound over Masalskis. The Swiss kept applying the pressure, posting a 14-5 shots on goal advantage in the first period. Aggressive shooters like Damien Brunner and Roman Josi forced Masalskis to make good saves.

Josi gave Switzerland a two-goal lead at 2:28 of the second period, circling the Latvian cage and firing a low shot through the pads of a kneeling Masalskis.

"I think we played a pretty good game," said Josi. "We had a good start and got an early goal, which is always important. We had a lot of chances in the first period, but they came back in the second because we couldn’t get the puck deep. But we played a good game overall."

The Latvians exerted great pressure during a second-period power play, particularly when Swiss penalty killer Thomas Déruns had to cast away a broken stick. But Gerber proved impregnable.

Switzerland had a great chance to go up by three when Monnet accepted a pass right in front of Masalskis late in the middle frame, but he fired high and wide.

Latvia cut the deficit to 2-1 at 2:35 of the third when Juris Stals executed a beautiful spinnerama shot on a right wing rush and Gints Meija converted the rebound.

In a desperate flurry in the final seconds, the Latvians yanked Masalskis for the extra attacker, but staunch Swiss checking carried the day. Ivo Rüthemann added the 3-1 insurance marker into an empty net with two seconds left.

"I thought the last ten minutes our defence was unbelievable," said Gerber. "They blocked shots, they knew what to do. We slipped a little there in the middle part of the game, but we came back strong, and the defence really did it for us tonight."

LUCAS AYKROYD