Switzerland secures first win of Milano-Cortina Olympics 4-3 in shootout thriller against Czechia

Before the Olympic tournament started, I said the most important thing for Switzerland was to score goals, and to keep opponents' goals out of their net. With an offense that has struggled in recent years, and with an opening game against a team that has dominated them in recent tournaments, the start to the 2026 Olympics seemed auspicious for the Swiss team. 

And then Friday’s game happened. 

In a thrilling, intense turn of events, the Swiss came out on top in their first matchup at the Milano-Cortina Olympics, taking down Czechia in a come-from-behind, shootout victory, 4-3. 

It’s not as though Czechia made it easy for them, however. Following their 5-1 loss to the United States on Thursday, the Czech’s were dogged on the puck from early on. Just 92 seconds into the contest, top-forward Kristýna Kaltounková bounced on a mis-played rebound by Swiss netminder Saskia Maurer to find the back of the net for the first time in Milan. 

Switzerland continued to pressure following the opening goal, and defensively suppressed some of what Czechia had to counter with. Seven minutes into the frame, Laura Zimmerman forced a turnover along the Czech blueline, pushed the puck around Andrea Trnková, before going blocker side down on Michaela Hesová to knot the game up at 1-1. 

Two minutes later, a long shift in the offensive end paid dividends for Czechia. A forced turnover in the far corner allowed Kateřina Mrázová to backhand the puck straight in front of Maurer’s net — right to where Natálie Mlýnková was waiting to rifle the puck home for her first goal, and second point, of the tournament. 

Now, all of that scoring happened before we got nine minutes into the first period, and with the response seen earlier from the Swiss, signs pointed to there being another tally from them as the period continued. 

Things settled down instead, with play going up and down the ice for much of the remainder of the period, and for much of the second frame as well. Early in the third, Tereza Plosová capitalized on chaos in front of Maurer’s net to snatch the puck, and break around both Swiss defenders before going top shelf for a 3-1 Czechia lead. 

After Thursday, when the team failed to get into a rhythm against the Americans, things seemed to be looking up for Czechia. Especially considering how tough it’s been for Switzerland to score in international competition in recent years. 

A boarding call two minutes after Plosová’s goal sent the Swiss to their second power play of the day, and frankly, I wasn’t expecting much. On 14 chances in České Budějovice, Switzerland scored a single time on the player advantage, and it came against a Finnish penalty kill that was… rough to say the least. 

But on Friday, nifty passing between the top unit allowed Alina Müller to tap the puck home right on the doorstep on Hesová’s stick side, cutting Czechia’s lead to 3-2. Pace of play picked up soon after, and Switzerland relied heavily on Maurer, who made multiple integral stops before the end of the third period. 

With just over two minutes to play, sustained pressure and a floater of a shot from defender Lara Christen along the blue line found the back of the net, knotted the game back up at 3-3, and sent us to overtime for the first time in Milan. 

For five minutes of overtime play, both teams had chances, and both goaltenders turned them all aside, sending us to an even less stressful hockey event: the shootout. 

Captain Lara Stalder, Müller, and forward Ivana Wey all scored on Switzerland’s first three attempts, while Mrázová converted on Czechia’s first, and Klára Hymlárová on their third. Adéla Šapovalivová, on Czechia’s fifth attempt, rifled the puck beneath Maurer’s pads to extend the shootout even further, after Switzerland missed their fourth and fifth attempts. 

Maurer and Hesová then went back and forth, pushing the shootout to the sixth, seventh, and then eighth rounds. A stop on Šapovalivová in the eighth round set up a chance for Switzerland, and brought back Wey for her second attempt. 

And just like Zimmerman, who started the scoring for Switzerland all the way back in the first period, Wey went hard to Hesová’s blocker side and finished the game off in favor of Switzerland.

Humor me for a second as we back up to the third period, and the boarding penalty call that led to the second Swiss goal. The player that drew that penalty, is the same forward who then assisted on the PPG, and the same player who won the game for her team: Ivana Wey. 

The forward, playing in her first Olympics, turned 20 years old just two days ago. Her 20+ minutes of ice time was third amongst all Swiss forwards, and came after she began the day on the second line.

Every time she was on the ice, Wey was making a difference for Switzerland, and it shows in how often she was on the ice as we ticked closer to the final buzzer, both in regulation and in overtime. If she’s able to continue to perform at this level for Switzerland over the next two weeks, things may look different than what we saw for the squad in České Budějovice last spring. 

For Czechia, a point is a point in the tough standings of Group A, but it’s another game where the inability to close things out comes back to bite them. The team is now 0-0-1-1, and will have to wait until Sunday to potentially get things back on track before the preliminary stage comes to a close. 

The Other Contest on Day 2 

Japan 3, France 2 

With a more abridged day of contests because of the Opening Ceremonies scheduled for later on Friday, the only other matchup was a Group B game between France and Japan. In both the second and third periods, the goal scoring was condensed into brief sections of time. 

In the second, Rui Ukita of Japan scored midway through to put her team up 1-0, but a minute later the game was back tied, thanks to Lore Baudrit converting with 17 seconds left in the frame. Makoto Ito put Japan in front once more in the last 3:30 minutes of regulation play, before an empty netter from Suzuka Maeda seemed to put things out of reach a minute later. France’s Gabrielle de Serres scored a power play goal in the last 13 seconds of regulation, but the French couldn’t find the equalizer in time, as Japan skated to their first win in 2026. 

A lot of credit must be given to starting netminder Alice Philbert, who had an outstanding performance on Friday. On 37 shots, the goaltender conceded just two goals for a save percentage of .946, and has made 77 saves across two games thus far for the French. 

Saturday, Feb. 7 Games

🇩🇪 Germany vs. 🇯🇵 Japan at 12:10 PM (6:10 AM EST) 

🇸🇪 Sweden vs. 🇮🇹 Italy at 2:40 PM (8:40 AM EST) 

🇺🇲 USA vs. 🇫🇮 Finland at 4:40 PM (10:40 AM EST) – TBD on Finland’s Health Status following Norovirus outbreak

🇨🇭Switzerland vs. 🇨🇦 Canada at 9:10 PM (3:10 PM EST)

Game to Watch: Sweden vs. Italy 

Coming off a solid win against France to open the tournament, host Italy is back in action this time against Sweden. Both squads sit at three points each after their first games in Group B, and it’ll be interesting to see how the Italian team performs against a Swedish team who dominated Germany to open the tournament.