Henrik Lundqvist was impressive in Sweden's net, stopping 27 of 29 shots by Team Switzerland.

Sweden avoids upset this time
By Rich Libero | NHL.com
Feb. 22, 2006

"It's been a roller coaster ride so far in the tournament for us," Swedish captain Mats Sundin said.

Despite being the lower seed to Switzerland, Sweden rode to the crest of the roller coaster and crushed the upstarts, 6-2, Wednesday at the Torino Esposizioni to advance to the Olympic semifinals.

The victory avenged a lackluster preliminary round as well as Sweden's upset quarterfinal loss to Belarus in the 2002 Winter Olympics and an early exit at the hands of archrival Finland at the '98 Games in Nagano.

"I think it means a lot for the people of Sweden. It's another hurdle we're past after not going far in previous Olympics," Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom said.

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Tiny Switzerland played the role of giant slayers on two occasions in this tournament and were designated "home team" in Wednesday's match. They hung game through the first period and actually rallied from an early Sweden goal to equalize before ending the period trailing, 2-1.

"They didn't risk much and they moved the puck well," Swiss goalie Martin Gerber said.

But the second period turned out to be Switzerland's undoing. Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg scored on a wraparound and Sundin drilled home a one-timer from the left circle to stake Sweden out to a 4-1 lead.

Sundin scored again at 12:52 when Forsberg dug the puck off the left boards and centered to the Toronto Maple Leafs captain who coolly put the puck behind Carolina's Gerber.

"In the second period they got a little tired," Forsberg said. "We played down low and got them tired."

The Sundin line with Forsberg and Freddie Modin combined for three goals. Sundin said this is the first time he's played two whole games with Forsberg as a linemate and it takes some getting used to.

"For me and Freddie Modin, playing with Peter is an adjustment," Forsberg said. "If he's going to hold onto the puck, we have to go and make sure we get to the holes."

As bad as the second period went for the Swiss, they stormed out in the third, plastering Sweden goalie Henrik Lundqvist with shots in the first 20 seconds. Romano Lemm cracked through 49 seconds into the period to make it 5-2.

"We knew they were going to play hard," Lidstrom said. "They put a lot of forecheck on us in the second and third period."

Sweden's Fredrik Modin scored a first-period goal on Switzerland's Martin Gerber.

The Swiss dominance in the period carried almost to the halfway mark at 8:36, when they were outshooting Sweden 10-1. But Montreal's Mark Streit lost a battle to Boston's P.J. Axelsson, who set up Daniel Alfredsson for a wrister at the top of the left circle with a soft pass. The shot found its way between Gerber's left arm and body, driving a spike into the heart of the Swiss comeback attempt. Overall, the Swiss outshot the Swedes, 29-27.

Unlike the Salt Lake Games, where Sweden drew upstart Belarus in the quarterfinal round, the Swedes entered this game more than aware of what would happen if they took the Swiss lightly.

Switzerland had stunned quality teams Canada and the Czech Republic to finish second in their group. Sweden was inconsistent during the preliminary round, but they had the Belarus match in the back of their minds.

Switzerland qualified for the quarterfinals by playing puck-pressure defense and winning battles along the wall. But the Swedes proved stronger in both categories. They played a puck-possession game with lots of cycling. The Swedes won major battles along the walls to create scoring chances.

"I thought that probably helped (remembering Belarus). I knew we had to be ready," Forsberg said. "You can't take any team in this tournament for granted. I knew it would be a battle. That game helped us. I knew we had to be prepared for today."

Switzerland, on the other hand, took the loss bitterly. "It's a big disappointment," Gerber said. "We really thought we had a shot. It just shows how hard you have to work, play harder and smarter and with more passion. We have to take that with us and move forward."

Some would say that despite the loss, the Swiss have already taken a giant leap forward and, so have the Swedes.

"I thought we made some progress in the right direction," Sundin said.