Gusev almost made a dream start to his belated run in Copenhagen. The action was less than two minutes old when Kaprizov's diagonal found the SKA St. Petersburg man at the far post. An awkward bounce saw the puck loop off Gusev's
arm and hit the post; a clean strike could easily have given Russia an early lead. Switzerland was saved again by the post when Dadonov stripped Michael Fora of the puck and fired in a shot that squirmed through Reto Berra.

"Our line started creating chances immediately and if we'd taken them from the start the game would have been much easier," Gusev said after the game. "Generally I thought it all went OK after such a long break. The first two periods were fine, then it got hard in the third. But overall it was good."

Switzerland was not about to be overwhelmed, though. A solid PK frustrated the Russians and a power play opportunity at the other end saw Gregory Hofmann get a decent look at Vasili Koshechkin only to hit a weak shot. The first period finished goalless, with Berra refusing to take Pavel Datsyuk's bait late on. Russia's captain wriggled into space in front of the net but the goalie stood up to the attempted deke and the shot went into the side netting.

Russia raised the tempo in the second stanza, grabbing the lead in the 23rd minute. That Olympic Gusev-Datsyuk-Kaprizov line combined with Gusev finding Datsyuk only for an uncharacteristic fanned shot to drop nicely for Kaprizov to
score from a tight angle. Soon afterwards Grigorenko became the latest Russian to be denied by the piping when his close-range effort was blocked by a combination of the post and Fora's skate.

Switzerland tied it up on a power play goal from Untersander, smashing home a one-timer off Dean Kukan's feed to the left-hand face-off spot but the Swiss immediately handed the initiative back to Russia. An error on defence saw Artyom Anisimov steal the puck out on the boards and send Dadonov on the path to goal. A shot from between the hash marks to Berra's glove side restored Russia's lead. That was a relief for Alexei Bereglazov. The young Metallurg Magnitogorsk defenceman was making his World Championship debut after being cut
from last year's roster but his most prominent contribution was taking the penalty that led to Switzerland's goal.

The Swiss fans in a crowd of 12,366 were singing Berra's name when he thwarted a Gusev raid with a great save and at the other end Koshehckin produced a double step to deny Timo Meier. The Sharks forward then flashed a one-timer narrowly wide after Joel Vermin opened up the Russian defence.

Russia extended its lead seconds before the intermission when it converted a 5-on-3 power play. The Red Machine clicked into gear, moving the puck smoothly around the Swiss zone until Gusev, on the goal-line, found Nesterov in the circle. The CSKA defenceman immediately released a wrister that gave Berra no chance to make it 3-1.

Grigorenko hailed Gusev's contribution to the win. "Gus is one of our best players," he said. "It's always nice to get your leaders back. He's got a lot of skill, and he showed it today. He had two beautiful assists, and he helps us
on the power play a lot."

Swiss captain Raphael Diaz rated that power play goal as the crucial moment in the game.

"In the second and third period, we were pretty good. In the first 10 minutes, we played a little bit nervous. I think afterwards we picked it up," Diaz said.
"Overall, it was a good game. Especially at the end, we played with a lot of confidence. We scored. We went in front of their net, and I think we had a lot of good things.

"The key point was the 5-on-3. If you give Russia a 5-on-3, there's a 90 percent chance they score."

Russia began the final frame with 97 seconds of power play carried over from the previous session but failed to press home its advantage. Instead it was Switzerland that pulled a goal back with eight minutes left to play. Yegor Yakovlev got himself caught out behind the Russian net, Vermin fed Meier on the
slot but Koshechkin made the stop. Andrighetto collected the puck to squeeze home from a tight angle.

Within seconds, the Swiss might have tied it up when Tristan Scherwey flashed a
shot across the face of Koshechkin's net and the cowbells were ringing in the Royal Arena. But Russia responded through Grigorenko's fourth goal of the tournament, chipping Anisimov's feed over Berra's shoulder.

That wasn't the end. Switzerland got a power play and pulled Berra to play 6-on-4. The gamble came off: Andrighetto's point shot was tipped past Koshechkin by Haas, emerging from behind the net to get in front of the Russian
goalie. With 90 seconds to play, Berra returned to the bench and the Swiss prepared one final assault. Meier almost produced a repeat of Haas' scoring move and a strong Russian stick denied Enzo Corvi in the final seconds as Russia held on.

"Actually, we made a great game, but in the end we got no points," reflected Haas. "We worked the whole game. We pushed and pushed, and we scored the 3-2 goal. We were still pushing at the end and they made it 4-2. I thought we could
get it. We pushed and we made it 4-3. We had a few chances at the end."

Russia moves on to 13 points, one behind Group A leader Sweden. Switzerland is in the thick of a three-way battle for two play-off places, tied on nine points
with the Czech Republic and one point ahead of Slovakia.

ANDY POTTS

http://https://www.new-iihf.com/en/events/2018/wm/news/2858/russia-holds-on-to-defeat-the-swiss
--- SBBSecho 3.04-Win32
* Origin: TequilaMockingbird Online - Toms River, NJ (1:266/404)