On a busy day of Olympic preliminary-round games marked by the USA beating Russia 3-2 via shootout in the best game of the tournament to date, three of the Flyers' five Olympians were in action today.
SWITZERLAND 1 - CZECH REPUBLIC 0
A decade ago, this would would have been a significant upset. Anyone who considers this an upset nowadays hasn't been paying attention to vast improvement of Swiss hockey over the last decade and the slow but steady slide of the Czech program in recent years. On any given day, the Swiss are capable of beating any team in the tournament.
In 2006 in Turin, the Swiss beat the Czech Republic and Canada in back-to-back games. In 2010 in Vancouver, the Swiss team took eventual gold medalist Canada to a shootout and battled the U.S. hard in the quarterfinals in a 2-0 loss.
Last April at the IIHF World Championships, the Swiss team went undefeated in the preliminary round, including a 3-2 regulation win over Sweden, a 3-2 shootout win over an NHL-player laden Canada squad, and a 5-2 romp over the Czech Republic.
In the World Championship medal round, the Swiss beat the Czechs by a 2-1 score and then shut out Team USA, 3-0, to earn a trip to the gold medal game. With the gold medal on the line, the Swedes got their revenge for the preliminary round loss, skating to a 5-1 win.
Thus far in this year's Olympics, the Swiss have allowed just one goal in three games. They've also scored only two, which underscores the biggest obstacle to the team becoming a true medal contender on a regular basis.
Anaheim Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller recorded his second shutout of the tournament, stopping all 26 shots fired his way. Winnipeg Jets netminder Ondrej Pavelec stopped 25 of 26 for the Czechs.
Just as they did against Sweden, the Swiss controlled the first period against the Czechs. Team Switzerland skated hard, forechecked and backchecked aggressively and blocked a lot of shots. There were little operating room for the Czech team, which has its share of flaws but still has players who can put the puck in the net.
Through the midway point of the opening period, the Swiss outshot the Czechs by a 9-2 margin. The Czech team evened it up a bit over the latter portion of the first period, narrowing the gap to 11-8. Jaromir Jagr, who celebrated his 42nd birthday today, had several excellent chances. Hiller also denied a 2-on-1 rush.
The Swiss made one of their two shots in the second half of the first period count. At the 14:10 mark, they scored the game's only goal. Strong forechecking by former Flyers draft pick Kevin Romy paid off, as he worked the puck to Denis Hollenstein. Simon Bodenmann got open in the left circle, took a pass from Hollenstein and ripped the puck home high glove side on Pavelec.
The Czechs played with a little more urgency in the second period, outshooting Switzerland 10-6, but the Swiss continued to bend without breaking. The Swiss killed off a pair of penalties in the period, as Hiller stepped to the forefront again.
The third period saw Flyers defenseman
Mark Streit and Roman Wick take minors on the first half of the period. Hiller, who came up huge yet again with a very difficult save on Michael Frolik shortly before the Wick penalty, made eight stops in the final stanza. He made a highlight reel glove stop on Jagr with six-plus minutes left on the clock.
As the period continued, Switzerland evened out the play and the Czechs once again were met by a wall of team defense that prevented them from finding open space. The Czechs' Radko Gudas took a penalty with 6:33 left. Although the Swiss team was unable to nab an insurance goal, they generated some of their best puck movement of the game.
The Czechs pulled Pavelec for an extra attacker in the final minute. The Swiss held the fort and protected their narrow lead until the final buzzer. With the win, the Swiss team secured second place in Pool C. The Czechs finished third and must earn a spot in the medal round quarterfinals through the qualification round.
Flyers right winger
Jakub Voracek had one shot on goal in 13:13 of ice time. He has been skating on the third line. Much-maligned Czech head coach Alois Hadamczik has avoided using either Voracek or David Krejci on the top power play unit. For Switzerland, Streit played 31 shifts and 22:36. He did not record a shot on goal (he has only one in the three games).
Veteran Czech forward Patrik Elias sat out this game due to a bout with the flu. Jagr skated 20:30 of ice time and took numerous lengthy shifts. Among ex-Flyers other than Jagr, Petr Nedved had 12:46 of ice time with two shots on goal. Defenseman Lukas Krajicek, who was dressed last game but spent the entire match on the bench without skating a shift, did not dress for this game.
SLOVENIA 3 - SLOVAKIA 1
In today's earliest game -- starting at 3 a.m. in the eastern U.S. -- Slovenia pulled off an upset of the disappointing Slovakian team. The Slovaks lacked energy against a hungry opponent who increasingly sensed that they could win this game. Slovenia outshot the Slovaks, 31-28 for the game, often catching the seemingly disinterested Slovaks a step behind the play.
Slovakia's best opportunity to take control of the game came in the second period, when they spent six minutes on the power play. They were unable to solve veteran goaltender Robert Kristian (28 saves).
The game went to the third period scoreless. Then the floodgates opened for Slovenians, as Rok Ticar, team captain Tomaz Razingar and Los Angeles Kings star Anze Kopitar scored to open a 3-0 lead by midway through the third period. Tomas Jurco broke up Kristian's shutout bid with a power play goal in the final 20 seconds of play, but it was a hollow moment for the Slovaks.
Flyers defenseman
Andrej Meszaros skated 20:17 of ice time for Slovakia. He was not on the ice for any of Slovenia's goals.
TOMORROW'S GAMES
SUN FEB 16
Austria (Raffl) vs. Norway: 3:00 a.m. (USA)
Slovakia (Meszaros) vs Russia: 7:30 a.m. (USA)
USA vs. Slovenia: 7:30 a.m. (NBCSN)
Finland (Timonen) vs. Canada: Noon (USA)
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