Game of Stone's
by Andrew Podnieks|23 MAY 2019
Canada's Mark Stone (#61) celebrates with Jonathan Marchessault (#81) after scoring on Switzerland.
 
photo: Matt Zambonin / HHOF-IIHF Images
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Mark Stone scored his second goal of the game 5:07 into overtime to give Canada a 3-2 win over Switzerland and a place in the semi-finals. He took a beautiful feed during the sudden death 3-on-3 from Pierre-Luc Dubois going to the net, and got his stick on the puck to slide it into the empty side. 

The game went to overtime under the most dramatic of circumstances. The Swiss led the entire third period, 2-1, but with time winding down and Matt Murray on the bench, Damon Severson's point shot squeezed under the blocker arm of Leonardo Genoni and rolled over the goal line with 0.4 seconds remaining.

A video review confirmed the goal, forcing the 10-minute overtime. Both teams played tentatively, a combination of sprint cycling and chess. And then in a flash, Dubois made a rush, Stone bolted to the goal, and the game was over. 

Genoni was the star of the game, facing 42 shots compared to 24 at the other end, keeping the Swiss ahead or in contention much of the game.

"I thought we controlled most of the 5-on-5 play," Stone said, "but they scored two goals on the power play. In this tournament, power play and penalty kill are so important, but we stuck with it. We used all the time on the clock to tie the game, and I thought we controlled the entire 3-on-3. We didn’t give up the puck and ultimately we got the goal."

"I saw the puck go in and that’s all I could tell you, really," Severson said. "I didn’t know how much time was left. I knew that it was going to be close to the end of the period, but it ended up being the tying goal with 0.4 left so that was awesome."

Both Swiss goals in regulation came on the power play, the second from Nico Hischier with just 3.8 seconds left in the second period. It looked to be the winning score until Severson's incredible tying goal.

"It was definitely very tough to play overtime [after that late goal]," Swiss forward Nino Niederreiter admitted. "The momentum is obviously on their side, so you have to find a way to get it right back. It’s tough to lose that way, but at the end of the day we had a chance to get it out and we didn’t. We sacrificed, we blocked shots, but it just wasn’t enough."

 
Canada vs. Switzerland (QF) - 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship
CAN vs. SUI
CAN SUI 23 MAY 2019
The Swiss came out and showed Canada plenty of speed and finesse in the offensive end, twirling and whirling with the puck on a string and confounding the Canadian defence. 
 
They also had the first great scoring chance when Nino Niederreiter went in alone on Murray and made a little deke that almost fooled the goalie. The puck squirted under him, but defenceman Darnell Nurse cleared the puck off the line.
 
Canada created several good scoring chances of its own, but misfired or couldn’t finish around Genoni’s goal. 
 
Switzerland got the only power play of the period, late, and it proved fruitful. Jared McCann protested his interference call, but while he was in the box, Sven Andrighetto fired a long screen shot that beat Murray cleanly at 18:06.
 
Canada started the second strong, but it was the Swiss that finished strong. The Canadians tied the game at 5:45 when a Dante Fabbro point shot was nicely redirected in front by Stone.
 
Although Canada continued to carry the play, the Swiss played with tremendous poise in their own end and never retreated into panic mode. But still, the Canadians lacked finish around the goal, and it cost them.
 
Jonathan Marchessault had a bad end to the period. First, he coughed up the puck at the Swiss blue line, allowing a two-on-one the other way, Christoph Bertschy nearly tucked the puck behind Murray but again Canada cleared the puck from the crease.
 
On his next shift, Marchessault took a penalty, and as time wound down Mathieu Joseph had a chance to ice the puck in centre ice but instead tried to make an extra move and rush the puck. He gave it up, and Hischier wound up snapping home a rebound to the back side off the ensuing rush. The goal came with just 3.8 seconds left in the period and gave the Swiss some momentum.

They played a little too defensively in the third, but Genoni was a rock. Canada's never-give-up philosophy, though, brought them from the brink yet again, and now they'll play on the weekend while the Swiss go home.
Canada vs. Switzerland (QF) - 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship