Switzerland crush Slovakia at IIHF World Championship

BRATISLAVA, May 28 (Xinhua) -- After three straight victories, Slovakia's ice hockey team experienced their first defeat at the 2021 IIHF World Championship in Latvia, being crushed 8-1 by Switzerland on Thursday.

Switzerland's special teams were key to their third victory in Riga, as five goals were scored during powerplays. Gregory Hofmann and Romain Loeffel led the scoring department with two goals each.

The Slovaks had a bad start when forward Kristian Pospisil was ejected for charging. His teammates had a great opportunity to score a shorthanded goal but Matus Sukel missed the empty net. Moments later, the Swiss converted from a thrilling five-minute powerplay. Raphael Diaz opened the score when his shot hit a defender's stick, breaking it in the process and ending up behind Julius Hudacek's back. It was the first time Slovakia had trailed at the 2021 Worlds.

In the second period, things started to go more awry for the Slovaks. Sven Andrighetto stretched the lead to 2-0 just 25 seconds into another powerplay, followed later on by goals from Loeffel and Hofmann.

The final period followed a similar script. Timo Meier expanded the lead to 5-0 one minute into a powerplay and two of his teammates got on the board later on.

Karpat Oulun forward Michal Kristof saved Slovakia from suffering an utter debacle, scoring the goal of honor with a well-placed shot from the right circle and erasing Reto Berra's hopes of a shutout. "We have to look at the good plays from the beginning and quickly forget about the bad stuff. We cannot allow amassing so many penalties at such a tournament," summarized Kristof. Enditem