By National Teams of Ice Hockey
The Swiss made a lightning start in their return to the Spengler Cup after 38 years. 90 seconds into the game Eric Blum scored the first goal. Just two minutes later, Captain Raphael Diaz made it 2-0. 13 minutes later Damien Brunner scored for 3- 0 lead. Dynamo Riga is the representative of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL)
Did the Swiss play so well or Riga so badly? The definitive answer to this question will come in the next few days. In any case the Swiss played efficiently. For the first three goals, they only needed seven shots on goal. With pace and stick technique the team of Patrick Fischer overwhelmed their opponent, in which almost half of the Latvian national team plays for.
The Latvians earned little opportunities. Mikelis Redlihs had the first noteworthy chance to score, but after three minutes at the score of 0-1 goalie Leonardo Genoni was not worried, and after the first Goal from Rigas to make it 1: 3, it took only 36 seconds until Dominik Schlumpf restored the three goal lead 1-4.
For Switzerland, the match against Dynamo Riga was the ideal start into the Spengler Cup. In November, the Swiss had lost in the Karjala Cup tournament against Canada, the Czech Republic and Russia, and in the last ten international matches, the Swiss never scored more than three goals. The Swiss scored two more goals in the game, Luca Fazzini (5-1) and Lino Martschini (6-1), should give the Swiss additional confidence.
The Swiss play in the Torriani group on Thursday against the Finns club HPK Hämeenlinna, who play against Dynamo Riga on Wednesday afternoon.
