Ice hockey: Tristan Scherwey: « It can cost us the tournament »

Forty-three penalty minutes, including 25 for Michael Fora alone. The Swiss team played with fire on Wednesday night in Helsinki against Slovakia (5-3). If she still managed to win a fourth consecutive match since the start of the World Championship, the selection at the white cross could have lost everything in the last moments of the game.

Didn’t she have to resist for two full minutes to a double numerical disadvantage between the 55th and 57th minutes when the score was only 4-3 in her favor? Patrick Fischer’s men had no choice but to put on their overalls to get through this crucial sequence without incident.

“Our captain Nico Hischier managed two or three big blocks, which gave energy to the whole team, entrusted Tristan Scherwey at the end of the meeting. Pius Suter has also been amazing in winning big engagements. NHL players and other team leaders, like Denis Malgin, have done a hell of a job. This success is above all the result of teamwork.”

The players cited as an example by the CP Bern striker are not really the ones you think of first when it comes to defending a score advantage or lying down in front of an opposing shot. The state of mind displayed by the three attackers is necessarily positive for the rest of the tournament for the Swiss team. This especially since this attitude did not restrain the three protagonists on the other side of the ice (three assists for Suter, two points for Malgin, a goal for Hischier).

More used to sacrificing himself, Tristan Scherwey particularly appreciated the behavior of his teammates. The 31-year-old from Friborg also imitated them in stride by countering a Slovak strike less than three minutes from the final siren. An action celebrated as a goal by the entire Swiss clan.

“Blocks are part of the job,” he explained modestly. When we get closer to the end of the meeting, we know that each shot that passes can potentially be dangerous. A block is good because it boosts the whole group. If that’s what we needed, great. »

One thing is certain: the Swiss team knew how to keep their clean sheet during this perilous 3 against 5, the “turning point of the match” according to Tristan Scherwey. She must at all costs avoid finding herself in such a position during her next outings, especially on Saturday afternoon (3:20 p.m.) during the clash against Canada.

“Believe me, we talked about the many penalties received, said the player from Flamatt. We are aware that they can cost us dearly. It may even cost us the tournament. We will have to analyze this aspect of our game and change it as soon as possible. Despite everything, it did us good to win a match in this way. We fought well and we had to because it was tight.

The solidarity displayed by the players of Patrick Fischer in the « money-time » is certainly the positive point of the evening of Wednesday. Maybe even more than the fourth victory obtainedalmost synonymous with qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Finnish tournament.