Sweden and Czechia earned wins at the Euro Hockey Tour in Switzerland, setting up a final-day matchup to determine the tournament winner.
The Euro Hockey Tour brings together the top players from Europe’s domestic leagues, with Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, and Czechia competing in a series of four-nation tournaments. This year, the events play an important role in the Olympic selection process. That is especially true for Czechia and Switzerland, where Europe-based players are likely to feature on their Olympic rosters.
This weekend’s tournament is being played in Switzerland, with Finland facing Sweden and Czechia taking on the host nation on Saturday. As on Thursday, Sweden and Czechia both came away with wins. As a result, the two nations sit atop the standings and will face each other in a decisive game on Sunday to determine the tournament winner. Read more about today’s games below.
Finland 2 – 4 Sweden
The day’s opening game featured a matchup between archrivals Finland and Sweden. Finland did not have any players from its domestic league in the tournament, as the league did not pause for this event. Even so, it was Finland that opened the scoring with a power-play goal midway through the first period. Former Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Mikko Lehtonen fired a shot from the blue line that forward Jere Innala was able to deflect past the Swedish goaltender. Sweden responded before the end of the period, however, with former Ottawa Senator Erik Brännström scoring the equalizer.
Sweden was the next team to find the net. The goal that made it 2–1 came when Lukas Bengtsson jumped on a turnover following a faceoff win in Sweden’s own zone. Despite playing shorthanded, Sweden broke out on an open rush to take the lead. Finland pushed for the equalizer but couldn’t find a goal in time. Sweden then made it 3–1 into an empty net, and both teams added a goal in the final seconds to set the final score at 4–2.
With the win, Sweden moved into second place in the tournament standings ahead of the final day, sitting on five points from two games.
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Switzerland 3 – 5 Czechia
Czechia won its second straight game at the Swiss Hockey Games, defeating host nation Switzerland on Saturday. Czechia opened the scoring midway through the first period through Sparta Prague forward Filip Chlapík. Switzerland responded to level the game, but Czechia regained the lead, a back-and-forth pattern that continued and left the score tied 3–3 late in the contest.
With five minutes remaining, Czechia pulled away, scoring twice to take a 5–3 lead. As a result, Czechia will have a chance to win the tournament on Sunday, with Sweden waiting as the opponent in the final game.
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