Finland vs. Switzerland 1-2 (1-0, 0-1, 0-0, 0-1) Game Sheet Photos
WINTERTHUR – Stefanie Marty scooped in a loose puck to the side of the goal at 1:50 of overtime to give Switzerland a dramatic 2-1 win over Finland at Deutweg Arena. The goal capped a wild night of skating, great goaltending, and, yes, hitting. "It was 4-on-4 and there was lots of ice," Marty recounted, "and we wanted to just go to the net. There were three of us there and luckily it was me who scored. It could have been anybody. It was huge for us." The 1-1 tie in regulation featured goals from Tanja Niskanen (Finland) and Nicole Bullo and plenty of physical play. But the real stars were goalies Noora Räty of Finland and Florence Schelling of Switzerland, both of whom made many sensational saves over the course of the game. As with their game last night, the Swiss came out guns a-blazin’ and did everything but score. They had two early power plays and generated several great chances, but again couldn’t make that decisive play to score. Sure enough, soon after the second man advantage expired, the Finns struck for the opening goal. A mad scramble in front of goalie Florence Schelling saw Tanja Niskanen push the puck over the line for the game’s first goal. Lara Stalder thought she tied the game in the final minute, raising her arms in celebration, but video review quickly and conclusively showed that the puck hit the post before goalie Räty covered it. It was a surprisingly physical and intense period, neither team giving an inch, resulting in several collisions which drew cheers and jeers from the noisy, pro-Swiss crowd. Nevertheless, the first period ended with the Finns holding a slim lead and the Swiss playing with tremendous confidence. "We thought we dominated the first ten minutes," Marty said. "After that, we knew we had a good chance to win. And with the fans on our side, they were like the sixth skater for us." The second period was tight checking, lacking in scoring chances perhaps but more than making up for it in intensity and end-to-end action. Schelling made the best stop of the game midway through, robbing Tiina Saarimäki from point-blank range to keep it a one-goal game. Not to be outdone, Räty robbed Julia Marty from in close as the game opened again, thrilling the fans who beat drums and shouted: “Hopp Schwiiz!” Physical play intensified, and referee Aina Hove had to step in and call several minors as a result, including several for roughing and body-checking. The Finns ended up with a lengthy 5-on-3 toward the end of the period, but the Swiss did a masterful job of keeping the puck out and Schelling did the rest. And then it happened. Sara Benz made a pass to Bullo breaking over the blue line, and she drove hard to the net while being pursued. She fought off her check and roofed a backhand in sensational style with just 1:01 left in the period, a beautiful effort in any league. Tie game. Half a minute later Benz was nailed with what looked like a hard check, but no call was made and she made her way gingerly to the bench. That capped a thrilling period of hockey and promised a great final 20 minutes. Indeed, the thrills and chills continued in a tense third period as teams went back and forth looking for the go-ahead goal. Both teams had one power play in the period, the Swiss killing off a disadvantage midway through and the Finns doing likewise late in the period. In order for the win to hold up, the Swiss must now beat Kazakhstan on Tuesday to earn a spot in the quarter-finals and avoid the Relegation Round. Finland plays Canada in the early game that day. Both games are at Winterthur. Sweden vs. Russia 7-1 (3-1, 1-0, 3-0) Game Sheet Photos ZURICH – Sweden scored three goals in under four minutes early in the first period en route to a 7-1 win over Russia in Group A action of the 13th World Women’s Championship. The win puts Sweden in a tie at the top of the standings with the United States, 5-0 winners earlier in the day against Slovakia. Erika Holst, Elin Holmlov, and Rebecca Stenberg got the Swedes going. They later added a single in the second and another in the third. Holst also added two assists to make it a three-point game for her. Both teams play again tomorrow, Sweden taking on Slovakia and the Russians playing the Americans at Hallenstadion. "We wanted to play our game, and that means rushing the puck and trying to create scoring chances," veteran defenceman Gunilla Andersson said. "We got seven goals, so I think we did pretty well." The three quick goals caused Russian coach Valentin Gureyev to call a timeout, and the brief respite allowed his players to regain their composure. They got the only other goal of the period on a great individual effort by Alexandra Vafina. She stole the puck at her blue line and out-raced two Swedish defenders down ice, finishing the rush with a shot short side of goalie Sara Grahn. Sweden increased its lead to 4-1 early in the second just as a power play came to an end. Tina Enström blasted a slapshot over the shoulder of Anna Prugova, and in the third the Swedes stuck early on an Erika Grahm shot to make it 5-1 and put the game out of reach. Frida Nevalainen blew the game open on a solo dash, finishing with a weak backhand that eluded goalie Anna Prugova. That prompted Gureyev to put in backup goalie Valentina Ostrovlyanchik for the rest of the game. Anna Borgqvist closed out the scoring with a little more than a minute left in the game. Kazakhstan vs. Canada 0-7 (0-2, 0-3, 0-2) Game Sheet Photos

WINTERTHUR – Canada won its second game of the event. Defenceman Meaghan Mikkelson scored two goals in the 7-0 win against Kazakhstan only 20 hours after blanking the host nation Switzerland 12-0. United States vs. Slovakia 5-0 (0-0, 2-0, 3-0) Game Sheet Photos

ZURICH – On paper, it was no contest. On ice, it wasn’t close. But on the scoresheet, it was, indeed, surprisingly close for a long time. Led by second-period goals from rookies Kendall Coyne and Josephine Pucci, the United States defeated a Slovak team, 5-0, whose best player – by far – is, fortunately, their goalie. Zuzana Tomcikova was a wall of poise and confidence and kept the score close while the Americans controlled the puck for almost every second of the 60 minutes. The 5-0 score flattered the losing team by a significant degree. Shots on goal favoured the Americans by a whopping 63-10 margin. The first period was an unusually nervous one for the Americans. They were clearly the superior team and had nothing to fear or lose coming in, but despite dominating the period they misfired on several fine scoring chances and didn’t establish an intimidating game by any means. Perhaps it was the lack of atmosphere in the beautiful Hallenstadion which has a capacity of more than 10,000 but which had only 585 patrons on this Sunday afternoon game. "We didn't know much about them," American captain Jenny Potter admitted of Slovakia, "but we treat every opponent as if we have to go out and play our best game. We're happy with the goals we got today, but there are things we could do better next game. That's what hockey's all about." The scoreless period featured two minor penalties to each team, and the U.S. held a 26-4 margin in shots. When they did hit the net they were met by a rock solid effort from Tomcikova. It marked only the third time in 16 periods of top-level hockey that Slovakia had not allowed a goal (2nd period vs. Switzerland and 1st period vs. China at the 2010 Olympics). The first intermission was a chance for U.S. coach Katey Stone and captain Jenny Potter to settle the team down. "We just talked about going to the net and doing little things right," said Potter.The players picked up where they left off after the opening faceoff for the middle period, as Slovakia was content merely to dump the puck out of its end when it got possession. Finally, a Molly Engstrom point shot was deftly deflected in front by Kendall Coyne, playing in here first World Women’s Championship game, and the Americans scored what well looked like the game-winning goal such was the inability of their opponents even to move the puck up ice. "Decker got kicked out of the draw, and I stepped in, popped one back, and I went to the net. Engstrom shot it, and I tipped it five hole," Coyne described enthusiastically in hockey jargon. They made it 2-0 on a rare mistake from Tomcikova. Perhaps not fully trusting the abilities of her defencemen, she dove out to pokecheck a loose puck, but it went right to Josephine Pucci who quickly fired it into the empty net while the goalie while still trying to make it back to her skates. The Americans struck for a third goal just eleven seconds into the third period thanks to Hilary Knight, and eight seconds later they added a fourth on a slapshot by Meghan Duggan past a beleaguered Tomcikova. Another newcomer, 19-year-old Brianna Decker, made it 5-0 on a quick shot in the slot midway through the period. The U.S. plays again tomorrow against Russia while the Slovaks play Sweden earlier in the day Monday. Both games are in Zurich. ANDREW PODNIEKS