(Moncton) Switzerland’s Rodwin Dionicio played heroes at the World Junior Hockey Championship on Saturday, helping his team to a 4-3 shootout win over Slovakia.
Dionicio, a defender, beat Slovak goalkeeper Adam Gajan in the 10e shootout round.
Switzerland started the third period down 3-1, but rallied with goals from Mischa Ramel and Lorenzo Canonica to force overtime. Liekit Reichele also scored and had an assist for Switzerland in regulation time.
Slovak Adam Sykora opened the scoring 4:11 into the game and Servac Petrovsky added two goals 49 seconds apart in the second period. Montreal Canadiens prospect Filip Mesar and Libor Nemec each had two assists.
For this edition of the tournament, wins in regulation time are worth three points, wins in overtime are worth two and losses in overtime are worth one.
The knockout phase will begin on Monday.
United States 6 – Finland 2
The United States ended the preliminary round in Group B by defeating Finland 6-2.
Jimmy Snuggerud had a goal and three assists for the Americans. Logan Cooley contributed offensively with a goal and two assists while Luke Hughes hit the target once and set up a net.
Rutger McGroarty, Chaz Lucius and Lane Hutson also moved the ropes for USA (3-0-0-1), which finished the preliminary round atop Group B.
Lenni Hameenaho had a goal and an assist for Finland, which finished second in Group B. Joakim Kemell rounded out the scoring.
Trey Augustine stopped 29 pucks for the United States while Finland counterpart Aku Koskenvuo gave up six times on 30 shots.
Slovakia showed the same record as Finland (2-0-1-1), but slipped to third place due to goal differential. Switzerland (0-3-0-1) is fourth.
Czechia 8 – Germany 1
Jaroslav Chemlar had two goals and an assist as the Czech Republic crushed Germany 8-1.
Gabriel Szturc and Martin Rysavy both added a goal and two assists for the Czechs, while David Spacek and Jakub Kos each had a goal and an assist.
Jiri Tichacel and Petr Hauser also shone the red light for Czechia, who temporarily sit top of Group A.
Veit Oswald was the lone scorer for Germany, who will finish fourth in the group.