Dean Kukan, who scored five career NHL goals as a defenseman for the Columbus Blue Jackets, went coast-to-coast and sniped a bar-down shot in overtime to win the game and the second spot in Group A for Switzerland against Czechia.
Former NHL defenseman Dean Kukan is not a frequent goal-scorer, but he made it count on Sunday at the Olympics.
Kukan lasered a shot past Czechia netminder Lukas Dostal to win a dramatic final preliminary game for Switzerland.
The 4-3 overtime win for Switzerland featured back-and-forth scoring, a disallowed equalizer and a huge goal by the former Columbus Blue Jackets player, who helped his team capture the second spot in Group A and a more favorable qualifying round matchup.
Czechia's Filip Chlapik scored the lone goal in the first period, and they led most of the second period before Swiss captain Roman Josi and sniper Timo Meier scored twice in less than two minutes in the late stages of the frame.
Although former San Jose Sharks defenseman Radim Simek scored for Czechia to tie the game 6:33 into the third period, Pius Suter responded about a minute-and-a-half later to regain the Swiss lead.
As the Swiss tried to hold onto the lead in regulation and gain three points in the standings, Michael Fora was penalized for tripping.
And Czechia beat Swiss netminder Leonardo Genoni with three minutes to go, but referee Chris Rooney called it back right away. David Pastrnak appeared to make contact with Genoni outside the crease, but at the risk of losing the challenge and getting penalized, Czechia accepted the decision.
That choice worked out for them, as Martin Necas completed a slick passing play with a one-timer past Genoni. Both teams headed off to the first overtime of this tournament.
Enter Kukan. The 32-year-old picked up the puck in the Swiss zone, and although St. Louis Blues center Pius Suter skated to his right on the rush, Kukan held onto it as he entered the offensive zone. Two Czech players cut off the passing lane by that point, so Kukan had to shoot.
The release was so quick that the only way to know the shot was on net was to hear the crossbar ring and then see the puck bounce out of the goal.
By winning in overtime, Switzerland earned two points and clinched the second seed in Group A. When the preliminary round ends, the 12 teams are seeded by overall standings, and group position factors in first. So Switzerland will likely face France or Italy in their first knockout game in the qualifying round instead of a potentially more challenging matchup on paper.
Kukan only scored five goals in 153 career NHL games, all with the Blue Jackets.
He bounced between Columbus and the AHL's Cleveland Monsters for his first three NHL seasons before staying in The Show in 2019-20 through 2021-22.
He then moved on to the ZSC Lions in the Swiss National League, where he's won the National League twice, the Champions Hockey League and two World Championship silver medals with Switzerland. He's been voted to the National League media Swiss all-star team in each of the last three seasons, and he has three goals and 17 points in 43 games this season.
That said, Kukan did have another all-star-caliber goal back in 2018-19.
The Blue Jackets kept Kukan in the lineup as they swept the Presidents' Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round and took on the Boston Bruins in the second.
In Game 5 against Boston, with the series tied 2-2 and Columbus trailing 3-2 in the contest, the Bruins had all eyes on Panarin, who received the puck off a cross-ice deflection. But Panarin bobbled the puck, so instead of shooting, he saw Kukan already wound up for a one-timer. The D-man unleashed a wicked slapshot that also went bar-down past Tuuka Rask to tie the game.
When Kukan recorded an assist in Switzerland's win over France earlier in the week, Blue Jackets team reporter Jeff Svoboda mentioned that "rather memorable" goal versus Boston on social media.
Now, Kukan has another goal he'll remember for a long time.
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