Mirco Mueller came up big for Team Switzerland at the 2018 IIHF World Hockey Championships. Mueller had a shorthanded goal and an assist as the Swiss blanked Slovakia 2-0 at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen today.
Swiss goaltender Reto Berra stopped all 18 Slovak shots he saw as the Swiss peppered Slovakian goalie Marek Ciliak with 20 shots.
The Swiss got the scoring kicked off 11:06 into the game when Tristan Scherwey scored from Raphael Diaz and Mueller. That made it 1-0 Switzerland.
Diaz and Mueller would be intertwined in the second Swiss goal as well. Diaz took a holding penalty with ten seconds remaining in the first period to put the Slovaks on the power play to start the second. But just 22 seconds into the second frame, Mueller found the back of the net shorthanded, beating Ciliak off an assist from Scherwey to make it 2-0 Switzerland.
And that was your final. The third period saw little action in terms of penalties or scoring. Slovakia pulled Ciliak with just over two minutes remaining in the game, but Berra came up strong and Switzerland took the three points.
Mueller ended the night with a stat line that read one goal and an assist for two points, as he scored on his only shot on goal. He was a plus-2 plus/minus in 22:03 of ice time over 34 shifts.
With that win, the Swiss move into third in the Group A standings. THey have a win and an overtime win for five points and a 5-2 goal differential. To paraphrase the broadcasters on TSN (whose broadcast was being simulcast on NHL Network here in the US) at the end of the game, this bodes very well for the Swiss chances of moving into the semifinals in a stacked Group A.
Switzerland next plays the Czech Republic on May 8. In the meantime, the US takes on Germany tomorrow and we will have that for you right here.