Canada 10 - Switzerland 1

European Air Canada Cup
Friday, January 6, 2006
Ravensburg, GER

Day 2 of the European Air Canada Cup opened with Canada playing Switzerland, who had the tougher schedule having played Germany at 8 p.m. the evening before. Still energized by their 3-0 victory against the host team, Switzerland came at Canada right from the opening face-off. The Swiss pressured the Canadians, creating numerous turnovers, a number of scoring chances and clearly outworking Canada through 20 minutes of play. Canadian goaltender Szabados was solid, turning away all ten of Switzerland’s shots. Despite their sloppy defensive play, Canada dominated in the Swiss zone, getting the puck to the net nine times and getting it past Schelling on three occasions. Jocelyn Larocque scored her first goal as a Team Canada member 9 seconds into Canada’s first power play with a little help from a Swiss defender who deflected the puck up under the cross bar. Becky Irvine then joined first goal club when she deflected Melanie Gagnon’s shot from the half boards just over six minutes into the period. Canada rounded out the scoring on a backhand by Chouinard, who got her second goal of the tournament.

Canada tidied up their play in their own end of the ice and took their intensity level up a notch in the second period. Switzerland attempted to defend Canada man-to-man in but had difficulty with Canada’s speed and puck movement. The Canadians forced the Swiss into the penalty box on five occasions times, scoring four times. With their second two-man advantage of the game, Canada moved the puck diagonally cross-ice and once again found a player open on the back post. Riggs converted a Jones pass that originally started with Podloski. Two minutes later, Hall Chouinard and Mikkleson combined to get Canada’s third power play goal in 5 attempts. On Canada’s next power play, Shannon Szabodos of the Swiss making some changes by quickly moving the puck to Riggs, who skated the length of the ice, past a couple of Swiss players and slid the puck to Jones alone in the slot. Sautter who replaced Schelling after Canada’s fifth goal had no chance as Jones had lots of time to pick her spot, giving Canada a 6-0 lead and Szabados her first point as a Team Canada member. With less than 2 minutes left in the period, Marin and Gagnon combined on the power play to give Canada its fourth power play goal of the period. Switzerland continued to work hard, but Canada’s quick puck movement often trapped Swiss players, creating numerous outnumbered situations for Canada.

The third period saw Canada play their best period of the game. They continued to use close support and quick movement to trap Swiss players. Canada continued to control the puck in the offensive zone, forcing the Swiss to ice the puck to get a line change. The line of Podlski-Riggs and Jones scored a pair of equal strength goals at 5:18 and 8:01. Switzerland finally managed to get one by Szabaos and ruined Canada’s perfect penalty killing record (they were 30 for 30 after two and 2/3 games) when Kathrin Lehmann tucked a rebound into the back of the net. Canada, playing 5 on 3 for the third time in the game, rounded out the scoring at 18:11 mark when Slusar slid down the backside and roofed a pass from Marin & Hall.

Head Coach Lisa Jordan was happy with the way her young team responded to a slow start. “ I thought our first period was our sloppiest defensively so far this trip and we were fortunate to come out of it with a 3 goal lead. It was great to see how we responded as a team to the challenge of playing the game in both directions and using our skills to create space offensively. We really started skating and moving the puck quickly. We are especially happy with our specialty team play. I guess that is what happens when you get so much special team time during games. It was a good game for us and we look forward to our re-match with Germany tomorrow.”

Canada’s next game is against Germany on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. local time.