The Swiss ice hockey team secured early group victory at the World Cup in Finland and Latvia and would therefore be a possible quarter-final opponent for the German team.
The Confederates also won their sixth preliminary round game with 4:2 (1:1, 2:0, 1:1) against the Czech Republic. With the maximum yield, the Swiss in Group B can no longer be pushed out of first place.
Should Germany finish Group A in fourth place, national coach Harold Kreis’ team would meet Switzerland on May 25.
For this, the German selection needs a win against the French and support at the end. The USA, defending champions and hosts Finland and Sweden make up the first three places.
Ice Hockey World Championship 2023: USA rolls over France
The USA showed no weaknesses in the 9-0 (3-0, 1-0, 5-0) against France. The Americans are still in first place with the optimal number of points. In the Swiss group, Slovakia, third at the Olympics, kept hopes alive of reaching the quarter-finals after the hard-fought 1-0 (0-0, 1-0, 0-0) against newly promoted Slovenia.
Romain Loeffel (13th), Andres Ambuhl (24th/29th) and Tanner Richard (56th) were successful for Switzerland in Riga. Roman Cervenka (7th) had given the Czechs the lead, Dominik Kubalik reduced the lead in the meantime (53rd).
In Tampere, Drew O’Connor (7th/43rd), Cutter Gauthier (12th/22nd/54th), TJ Tynan (14th), Scott Perunovich (46th), Rocco Grimaldi (48th) and Conor shot Garland (49th) out the victory for the US team.