IIHF World Championship 2018: Canada stunned by Switzerland, will play USA for bronze

John Arlia

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IIHF World Championship 2018: Canada stunned by Switzerland, will play USA for bronze image

For the first time in four years, Canada will not play for a gold medal at the IIHF World Championship.

Switzerland stunned the heavily-favored Canadians 3-2 in Saturday's semifinal round to set up an all-European gold medal game against Sweden on Sunday. Canada will have to settle for a bronze medal matchup against the United States.

The Canadians outplayed Switzerland for much of the contest, but never led as they struggled to solve Swiss goaltender Leonardo Genoni. Genoni stopped 43 of the 45 shots he faced, with most of them coming in the second and third periods as Canada ramped up the pressure.

Tristan Scherwey opened the scoring for Switzerland late in the first period, but the Canadians responded well in the second and tied the game on a Bo Horvat wrist-shot. The Swiss regained the lead a few minutes later and then pushed it to 3-1 in the third period with some opportunistic offense from their special teams. 

Gregory Hofmann tapped home a Kevin Fiala pass for a power play marker in the second and Gaetan Haas made the most of a man-advantage by redirecting Switzerland's only third-period shot on goal past Darcy Kuemper to give his team a two-goal cushion. 

Colton Parayko's one-time blast in the final 130 seconds of regulation made things interesting, but the Swiss held their nerve to seal the win.

Canada will face the United States for the bronze on Sunday (9:45 a.m. ET) in a rematch between the rivals who opened the 2018 tournament against each other. The United States won that first game, 5-4, in a shootout.

Sporting News provided updates throughout Canada's 3-2 semifinal loss to Switzerland (all times Eastern).

Third period

Shots on goal: Canada 45, Switzerland 17

3:33 -  Canada wins the faceoff and takes two more shot attempts, but Parayko's effort is blocked and Genoni comes up big once again on a rebound as the Swiss hold on to advance to the gold medal game.

3:31 -  The Canadians keep control of the puck in the offensive zone and try to create chaos in the crease. Genoni finds the loose puck and covers with seven seconds remaining.

3:30 -  Canada continues to apply the pressure with six skaters on the ice and Switzerland ices the puck with 42 seconds to play.

3:27 -  Goal Canada!  The extra attacker pays off as Colton Parayko blasts a one-timer off of Genoni's blocker and into the back of the net. Canada uses its timeout to get its top line some rest.  3-2 Switzerland with 2:07 to play in the period.

3:25 -  Kuemper heads to the bench for an extra attacker just as Ekblad fires a shot from the point into Genoni's glove. Canada will have six skaters on the ice for an offensive zone faceoff with 2:39 to go.

3:22 -  Canada's top power play unit spends a good 90 seconds in the offensive zone, but can't convert. O'Reilly has a couple chances in front, but Genoni does just enough to keep the puck out of the net. Switzerland kills off the remaining penalty time as we go back to 5-on-5 play with less than four minutes to play in regulation.

3:20 -  Noah Rod gets caught for a slash on Parayko and Canada will head to the power play for the first time this afternoon.

3:15 -  Schenn fires a shot on goal from the slot and finds his own rebound for a second-effort, but Genoni gets in front of it and pounces onto the rebound with McDavid lurking.

3:12 -  Canada has been applying the pressure in the offensive zone, but hasn't created a lot of clear-cut chances to get back in this. The Canadians are outshooting the Swiss 10-1 in the period as we reach the 10-minute mark.

3:03 - Goal Switzerland!  The Swiss convert on the power play again to go up by two. Bo Horvat comes close to scoring a nifty short-handed goal, but Switzerland comes back the other way and Andrighetto fires a wrist shot that is deflected past Kuemper by Gaetan Haas.  3-1 Switzerland with 15:46 to play in the period.

3:00 -  Switzerland will go to the power play for the third time tonight (1-2) after Nugent-Hopkins is whistled for hooking in the offensive zone.

2:58 -  Early pressure from Canada. Parayko fires two long-range shots that are stopped by Genoni and then the Swiss goaltender gets bailed out by his near post on an effor by O'Reilly.

2:55 p.m. -  The puck is dropped for the start of the third period. Canada has 20 minutes to find a tying goal.

Second period: Switzerland 2, Canada 1

Shots: Canada 27, Switzerland 16

2:41 -  Nugent-Hopkins fires a backhand effort on goal, but Genoni shrugs it away with his shoulder as the second period comes to a close. 

2:38 -  Edmundson fires a one-timer from the point that takes a wicked deflection off the stick of Andrighetto and bounces into Genoni's glove. The Swiss netminder follows that up with a nice save on O'Reilly in close.

2:34 -  Sven Andrighetto skates over the Canadian blueline and fires a shot at Kuemper, who makes an easy glove save. That's the goaltender's first involvement in a while.

2:28 -  The McDavid line causes all sorts of problems for Switzerland, who essentially plays the shift down a man because of a broken stick. After nearly two minutes in the zone, Switzerland finally ices the puck, but can't get a change. They finally get that change on the next sequence against the Islanders' line (Barzal, Bailey, Beauvillier) and avoid any high-danger chances.

2:22 -  What a save by Genoni! Barzal plays it across to Beauvillier and the Islanders' forward is denied by a spectacluar lunging save. Canada players on the ice and bench thought that was going in.

2:18 -   Goal Switzerland!  The Swiss strike back immediately after keeping the Canadian penalty kill on the ice for extended shift. Fiala plays the puck through the crease and Gregory Hofmann taps it home to restore the lead.  2-1 Switzerland with 10:20 to play in the period.

2:16 -  The Swiss will get a chance to take the momentum back right away on the power play as Edmundson is whistled for hooking.

2:14 - Goal Canada! Canada capitalizes on its early pressure as Bo Horvat scores his third goal of the tournament on an eerily similar play to Switzerland's opening goal. Pageau plays the puck to the Canucks forward, who skates over the blue line and fires a shot from the top of the left circle past Genoni. 1-1 with 12:40 to play in the period.  

2:11 - Brayden Schenn plays a nice give-and-go with McDavid before firing a shot from the slot, but Genoni gets a piece of it and the Swiss clear the zone.

2:07 -  Chance for Pageau! Bo Horvat finds the Senators forward on the doorstep, but Genoni makes a right-pad stop to keep his team in the lead.

2:02 p.m. -  The puck is dropped for the start of the second period. Tristan Scherwey's first-period goal is the difference so far.

First period: Switzerland 1, Canada 0

Shots: Canada 9, Switzerland 5

1:47 -  Edmundson fires a shot from a poor angle and Genoni makes the save as the final seconds of the period expire.  

1:44 -  Goal Switzerland!  It's been coming. The Swiss finally capitalize on their pressure as Tristan Scherwey takes a pass in the neutral zone, crosses the blueline and fires a shot over Kuemper's shoulder. Darnell Nurse gave Scherwey too much time and space to fire his effort on goal.  1-0 Switzerland with 1:19 to play in the period.

1:39 -  Another opportunity for Meier! The Swiss forward can't control a pass in close and ends up playing the puck through the crease insead of into the open side. Big letoff for the Canadians.

1:37 -  Big chance for Canada! Bailey and Beauvillier come close to connecting on a tip play for the Canadians, but Genoni just gets his stick out to break the pass.

1:33 - Two chances for Switzerland! Timo Meier finds some room in the slot, but fires his wrist shot just wide of Kuemper's goal. On the ensuing shift, the Canadian netminder robs Tristan Scherwey on the doorstep.

1:27 -  Very tentative start from the Swiss, but they have limited Canada to shots from the perimeter so far. Genoni has been equal to them all. 

1:23 -  No shots for Switzerland on the power play. The Canadians kill it off with relative ease as the Swiss had trouble gaining the offensive zone.

1:20 -  Down the other end, Switzerland takes advantage of a Canada turnover and Gaetan Haas gets his team's first shot on Kuemper. The Canadians steer the rebound to safety, but Darnell Nurse is heading to the penalty box for delay of game. The Swiss get the first power play of the game.

1:18 -  Genoni comes way out of his crease to deny Pageau of a breakaway chance. The Swiss netminder fires the puck into his team's bench, avoiding a delay of game penalty.

1:15 p.m. -  The puck is dropped and away we go! It's Darcy Kuemper in net for Canada against Leonardo Genoni for Switzerland.

Pregame

12:50 p.m. -  Here are the expected lineups for Canada and Switzerland:

12:00 p.m. -  Earlier on, Sweden pummeled the United States 6-0 in the first semifinal.

John Arlia