It wasn’t how they drew it up. But the host country is still alive in #WJC2013. Russia came from behind to beat Switzerland in their quarterfinal at Ufa Arena. Nikita Kucherov played the hero. His power play goal with 1:39 left in regulation forced overtime. In the fifth round of the shootout, Kucherov scored the winner- advancing Russia to a semifinal tomorrow against defending champ Sweden.

They almost didn’t make it. Sloppy play was the theme. Lax defensive coverage on two of the Swiss’ three goals allowed the tournament Cinderella to think upset. They made the elimination round by winning once and netting points in overtime/shootout losses, sending Finland to relegation. They gave Russia all they could handle. It was in the same round in ’10 when the Swiss prevailed 4-3 on Islander prospect Nino Niederreiter’s OT winner. This time, Russia survived.

Alexander Khokhlachyov opened the scoring by steering home a rebound to put the host country up. Switzerland came right back. Christof Bertschy took advantage of a  defensive breakdown by Albert Yarullin and Nikita Nesterov beating Andrei Vasilevski upstairs. Yarullin miscommunicated with Nesterov, whose errant pass was behind Oiler top pick Nail Yakupov. It allowed Bertschy to make an easy steal and finish.

Mikhail Grigorenko put Russia back up 2-1 midway through the second period. The Buffalo ’12 first round pick took a Nesterov pass and beat Swiss goalie Melvin Nyfeller with a backhand top shelf. But before they could get too comfortable, the resilient Swiss knotted it again three and a half minutes later. Martin Ness slipped between three Russian players to put home a rebound past Vasilevski. It was another example of Russia not paying attention to detail. Easily correctable. They’ll have to be much sharper against Sweden.

Thanks to splendid goalkeeping from both Vasilevski and Nyfeller, the game remained tied after two. Switzerland took the lead 8:57 into the third when Sven Andrighetto rifled a quick wrister short side. It traveled so fast that it went in and out, needing video review. That left Russia with 11:03 to find the equalizer. They benefited from a late power play.

Russia thought they’d tied it moments earlier but the puck crossed the goal line after the net came off its moorings. Prior to that, Vasilevski stoned Lukas Balmelli to give his team a chance. On the power play, Kucherov notched his team-leading fourth of the tournament. He drove home a loose puck just past Nyfeller inside the goalpost. There wasn’t much room. Grigorenko set it up with a wise shot that rebounded out to Kucherov, who made no mistake. He nearly won it at the buzzer but his tip try clanged the post.

The two teams played a 10 minute four-on-four overtime. Russia had an early power play opportunity but failed to capitalize. Neither team scored, forcing it to a shootout. In it, both netminders were outstanding. Nobody scored until Round Four when Grigorenko scored on his second attempt by faking shot and going forehand deke to beat Nyfeller. Facing the pressure, Alessia Bertaggia extended it with a twisted wrister past Vasilevski. Kucherov was selected to take the fifth shot for Russia. The gifted scorer faked Nyfeller out and tucked home a backhand for 2-1 in the skill competition. The Swiss elected to have Bertaggia shoot again. This time, he ran out of real estate against Vasilevski, who stayed with him- sending Russia to a thrilling victory in front of a psyched up crowd.

Final Score: Switzerland 3 Russia 4 (2-1 in Shootout)

GAME NOTES

-Russian forward Valeri Nichushkin served a one-game suspension for an illegal check from behind on Canadian Tyler Wotherspoon in their New Year’s Eve 3-1 defeat.
-Five different Swiss players registered a point.
–Christof Bertschy, Sven Andrighetto and Martin Ness scored for Switzerland.
–Samuel Guerra and Dario Simion tallied assists.
-Russia scored twice on the power play.
–Mikhail Grigorenko and Nikita Kucherov each had a goal and an assist.
–Alexander Khokhlachyov scored a goal.
–Nail Yakupov and Nikita Nesterov tallied assists.
-The teams combined for 34 penalty minutes (SUI-18 RUS-16).
-Switzerland outshot Russia 44-34.
–Andrei Vasilevski made 41 saves while counterpart Melvin Nyfeller turned aside 31 of 34.
-Russia faces Sweden tomorrow at 8 AM.