CAN 5 SUI 0
Kudos for a valiant effort for the Swiss goalie that literally stood on her head stopping 58 of 63 shots. My girl Natalie Spooner notched a pairing in a winning effort that saw 2 goals come in a 17 second span in the 2nd period.
Canada crushes Swiss
By Andrew Podnieks | 24 AUG 2021
Despite the heavy odds against them, the Swiss did have one ray of hope – goalie Andrea Braendli, who stopped 55 of 58 shots in a 3-0 loss to the United States. The 24-year-old kept her hot hand going in the first period, stopping all 21 shots fired her way. Her best was a right pad kick save on a close-in chance from Jill Saulnier, who found a rebound off an Ella Shelton point shot but couldn’t beat the Swiss goalie.
And so, when the first period ended 0-0, the Swiss had made a bit of history right there. It was only the second time they had held Canada without a goal in any period of the previous 18 (2nd period in 2019). But the Swiss also didn’t test Maschmeyer too much at the other end, and it seemed only a matter of time before Canada would solve the Braendli puzzle.
Sure enough, Canada got the game’s first goal at 5:04 of the second, and it came short-handed. Blayre Turnbull made a sensational rush down the right side and beat Braendli with a deke, but the puck hit the post. Emily Clark, following up on the play, knocked in the loose puck, though, for an important 1-0 lead.
"I think they got a little nervous when it was 0-0 after the first period," Stalder noted. "I think on that power play where they got the short-handed goal it would have been a different game if we had scored."
Four minutes later, Canada got a bit of a lucky goal off a 3-on-2 rush. Poulin fired a pass to the middle, but the puck bounced off Jamie Bourbonnais and in. And then just 17 seconds later, they made it 3-0. Renata Fast took a long wrist shot that Natalie Spooner redirected past Braendli.
The Canadians added a fourth goal of the frame late after a mad and pressure-filled sequence which saw one Swiss player lose her stick. Erin Ambrose took the shot, and Melodie Daoust deflected the puck off the shaft of her stick and in.
Switzerland got its best chance to score late in the period after a bad giveaway by Shelton outside her blue line. Stalder picked off the puck and skated in alone, but her quick shot looking for the five-hole was rejected by Maschmeyer to keep it a 4-0 game and to keep the Swiss scoreless all time against the Canadians.
"I think on breakaways if you come with a lot of speed I don't want to deke because I might get pressure from behind, so I tried to go five-hole, but she covered it well," Stalder explained.
Spooner did it again early in the third when she redirected a Shelton point shot at 1:01 to make it 5-0. That spelled the end for the beleaguered Braendli, who was replaced by Saskia Maurer, who made her senior WW debut for the Swiss on Saturday and was letter perfect the rest of the way.
The Swiss had another great chance to capitalize when Canada took two quick penalties and were down two skaters for 85 seconds, but the PK did its job. A little later, Evelina Raselli had an open net off her own rebound but couldn't get the puck over the pad of the sprawling Canadian goalie.
And now the showdown North American fans have been waiting for – Canada versus the United States, Thursday afternoon Calgary time.
"The part we liked about tonight's game is the types of goals we scored tonight were playoff-type goals, net front, jamming away from below the goal line," Ryan continued. "Those are the types of goals we're going to have to score moving forward. It was good to see."
The Swiss also finish their preliminary round on Thursday, playing Finland in the early game
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