Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Lundqvist leads battered Swedes past Switzerland

Sochi Olympics Ice Hockey Men

Sweden goaltender Henrik Lundqvist dives to deflect a shot on goal by Switzerland in the first period of a men’s ice hockey game at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 14, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Mark Blinch, Pool)

Mark Blinch

The Swedes don’t have Johan Franzen, they’re missing Henrik Sedin and now Henrik Zetterberg is gone. But they still have goaltender Henrik Lundqvist -- and today, that was enough in Sweden’s 1-0 victory over Switzerland.

The New York Rangers netminder turned aside 26 shots to pickup his first shutout and second win of the tournament, holding off a determined Swiss side looking for its second win of the tourney.

Battered by injuries, it took Sweden a while to get into this game and Lundqvist was all that was standing between them and an early deficit that would have been a huge hurdle to overcome against the defensively minded Swiss squad. Over time Sweden managed to shift the momentum until they finally caught a break when Swiss goalie Reto Berra surrendered a weak goal to Daniel Alfredsson.

Former Ottawa Senators teammate Erik Karlsson and St. Louis’ Patrik Berglund assisted on the marker.

That was the lone blemish during what was otherwise a solid 30-save performance by Berra, who was a surprise choice for the Swiss after Jonas Hiller led them to a 1-0 shutout victory over Latvia in the Olympic opener.

This win sets the Swedes up for their game against Latvia on Saturday. If they beat Latvia as expected, then Sweden will have swept its preliminary round group and advanced directly to the Quarterfinals. Switzerland takes on the Czech Republic next.

Related:

Video highlights from Sweden’s victory over Switzerland

Follow @RyanDadoun