Members of Team Canada celebrate after a goal vs Switzerland Tuesday, May 3, 2011 at the World Championship. Canada edged Switzerland 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Jukka Rautio / HHOF-IIHF Images)

Related Items: Canada vs Switzerland Gamesheet Watch the Highlights View Photo Gallery Visit the IIHF World Championships website IIHF Stats & Schedule Rosters: Canada | Sweden

Following Sunday's confident 9-1 win over France, Team Canada returned to action Tuesday for a thrilling game vs Switzerland.

CANADA VS SWITZERLAND

Canada has had some close calls vs Switzerland but has lost only once: at last year's World Championship. This year, the Swiss were once again surprisingly effective against the powerful Canadians.

Keeping pace with Canada early in the game, Switzerland was the first to light the lamp thanks to a sneaky sharp-angle shot by Raphael Diaz that fooled James Reimer.

Canada finished the first period up 14-9 in shots and cranked their intensity in the second.

After crafting a considerable 32-13 shot lead, Oilers forward Jordan Eberle capitalized on a chaotic crease by slipping the puck under Swiss goalie Leonardo Genoni to tie the game at one.

Five minutes later, John Tavares powered in on the Swiss net and, thanks to a lucky bounce, watched the puck deflect over Genoni's shoulder to give Canada a 2-1 lead.

Switzerland doubled its offensive effort in the third period, and the score changed accordingly. After Matthias Bieber failed to sink a penalty shot, Felicien duBois made up for the miss by jumping up into the play and surprising Reimer with a quick release to tie the game.

Desperate to prevent sudden death, Team Canada went all out in the final minutes. With a slew of forwards peppering Genoni, the puck escaped and was spotted by Chris Stewart. Despite losing his balance, the forward managed to go top shelf while falling to the ice.

But Canada wasn't in the clear: with 1:22 remaining on the clock, Andres Ambuhl salvaged hope for a Swiss upset by scoring a late equalizer.

In overtime, Canada's persistence wore on Genoni and, 4:14 into sudden death, Alex Pietrangelo ended the suspense with the game-winning goal. By that point, Canada had amassed an incredible 61 shots vs Switzerland's respectable 33.

For his one-goal, four-shot effort, Eberle was named Canada's best player. 


UP NEXT

Oilers forward Magnus Paajarvi will join Team Sweden in its effort to defeat USA Wednesday, May 4, 2011. (Photo by Jukka Rautio / HHOF-IIHF Images)

In the final day of the preliminary round Wednesday, Oilers forward Magnus Paajarvi will join Team Sweden's efforts to topple USA. The game will be broadcast live on TSN starting at 12:15pm MT.

Starting Thursday, the top three teams from each group advance to the qualification round.

With a 2-1-0-0 record, Canada has secured first place in Group B and will play the loser of the Sweden-USA game. That game will go down Friday, May 6 at 8:15am MT.

As always, follow the official Oilers Twitter account for updates on Oilers efforts in Slovakia, and visit edmontonoilers.com for a game recap of each Team Canada and Team Sweden game. 


ROUND ROBIN SCHEDULE & RESULTS
(all times mountain)

Friday, April 29:

Canada 4 - Belarus 1
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos | Highlights

Saturday, April 30:

Norway 5 - Sweden 4 (SO)
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos

Sunday, May 1:

Canada 9 - France 1
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos

Monday, May 2:

Sweden 3 - Austria 0
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos

Tuesday, May 3:

Canada 4 - Switzerland 3 (OT)
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos

Wednesday, May 4:

Sweden vs. USA - 12:15 p.m.
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos | Highlights

======END OF PRELIMINARY ROUND======