Finland vs. Switzerland
How to watch
Puck drop: 8:00 PM EST / 5:00 PM PST
In Canada: TSN1, TSN4, TSN5 (English,) RDS (French)
In the United States: NHL Network
Live stream: TSN Direct, RDS Direct
Just before the tournament began, Finland defeated Canada in the final tune-up game. When the tournament officially began with meaningful games, they struggled to find that form again as their top forwards went ice-cold through the round robin portion. It ultimately led to a third-place finish in Group B, with the team many had predicted to win gold looking like they were headed for an early exit.
But the team found its form at the perfect time, putting together a great performance against Canada in the quarter-final, and finally seeing their extended offensive-zone time result in a goal with less than a minute remaining. In overtime, after a great chance for Canada in their end, Finland headed the other way and took the victory.
Switzerland’s win was even more impressive considering the squad they were up against. Sweden, as the nation has done in each of the last 12 tournaments, swept the four preliminary-round games to claim top spot in its group and get the fourth-place Swiss on Wednesday.
It turned out that wasn’t much of a reward for the Swedes, as Switzerland snapped a streak, also of 12 years, of Sweden making it through the quarters and to the semis. It wasn’t the typical 60-minute survival Switzerland had needed to win in the past, either. They were outshot just 41-35 in the game, and went on to win with a 2-0 shutout.
It’s hard to know what to expect from tonight’s game. Finland has the skill, and showed the work ethic versus Canada that can really make that shine. But Switzerland has played well in all five of their games, and has to be feeling very good after sending Sweden home. It won’t be shocking if they’re also able to eliminate the Finns, but it would still be a major result for a team that has only been in the semifinals twice in its history.
Team Finland projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| #25 Aarne Talvitie | #19 Rasmus Kupari | #10 Aleksi Heponiemi |
| #20 Eeli Tolvanen | #29 Anton Lundell | #24 Kaapo Kakko |
| #13 Valtteri Puustinen | #22 Santeri Virtanen | #27 Jesse Ylönen |
| #28 Sami Moilanen | #12 Samuli Vainionpää | #18 Teemu Engberg |
| #23 Linus Nyman |
Defencemen
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| #3 Toni Utunen | #15 Henri Jokiharju |
| #7 Urho Vaakanainen | #2 Oskari Laaksonen |
| #36 Anttoni Honka | #21 Otto Latvala |
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| #1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen |
| #31 Filip Lindberg |
Team Switzerland projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| #22 Nando Eggenberger | #23 Philipp Kurashev | #9 Nicolas Müller |
| #18 Valentin Nussbaumer | #13 Justin Sigrist | #10 Yannick Brüschweiler |
| #17 Lucas Wyss | #14 Sandro Schmid | #15 Matthew Verboon |
| #6 Marco Lehmann | #20 Ramon Tanner | #11 Sven Leuenberger |
| #12 Jeremi Gerber |
Defencemen
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| #4 Simon le Coultre | #16 Nico Gross |
| #21 Tim Berni | #26 David Aebischer |
| #8 Janis Jérôme Moser | #7 Gianluca Burger |
| #19 Davyd Barandun |
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| #30 Luca Hollentstein |
| #29 Akira Schmid |
