DmitriyAS
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Here's a good article I found in Sport-Express:
Slava MALAMUD
We want to remember victories for a long time, and forget defeats as soon as possible. But yesterday's victory over the Swiss, who didn't put up much resistance, doesn't need to be cherished in our memory. And it won't be: the decisive games are ahead. So, let's forget about this lifeless Switzerland, which meekly gave us the last match of the second stage. And let's switch our attention to Switzerland. Just in case. Because there's a chance that tomorrow it will wake up a little different.
It's hard, for example, to imagine a team playing in the quarterfinals with a 0-5 scheme. This is when five Swiss players stand in the middle zone, and a billboard advertising "Tissot" watches (note, Swiss) puts pressure on the opponent near their goal. Ralph Krueger will definitely not forgive his players for the laxity in defense (standing where they stood, watching the puck, not touching anyone). And we will definitely see the two main defensemen, who didn't even undress for yesterday's match, tomorrow. It's possible that they will be hanging on the pants of the forwards from Fedorov's line. And we will meet the "Ottawa" goalkeeper Gerber.
The opponent's intention not to reveal their trump cards in this match was obvious from the first minutes. Krueger gave the command for a strategic retreat, with minor fouls, "killing the game" in the middle zone, leaving their zone by throwing the puck off the boards, and other delaying tactics. To call this serious hockey, or even hockey at all... you can, of course, but it's somehow unpleasant. In general, don't expect a repeat of the circus show that you saw yesterday in the first two periods. They let us eat a piece of Swiss cheese without paying a single Swiss franc for it. In nature, this situation is most often found in mousetraps.
Of course, the Russian "elephant" (for this team, the comparison with a bear sounds too trivial), in principle, can easily crush any of this particular opponent's tricks. In fact, even before the start of the championship, we knew that we would reach the quarterfinal match precisely with the Swiss. The task has been completed. Now, let's not get cocky and think that life is good.
We received a pretty clear hint that we will pay for this in the third period, when we slightly dozed off. Here, they scored three goals against us, increased the speed, and started to enter our zone near Nabokov. Subtly, occasionally, without forcing the argument - but they let us know what Switzerland is really capable of.
Let's take note. Our team, the absolute champion of the group stages of the last four world championships (we last lost in the "regular season" in 2004 in Ostrava), must now erase all intermediate successes from its memory. And first of all, the first two periods of yesterday's match. In knockout matches, our reputation is not so brilliant. Let them remember this and tear the cheese-makers to shreds without pity or hesitation.
Because, let's agree, an elephant in a mousetrap is a rather silly sight. No one wants to see Bykov's team in such a position.