Switzerland's Kevin Pasche makes a save on Slovakia's Adam Sykora during shootout IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship hockey action in Moncton, N.B., on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ron Ward
MONCTON, N.B. – Switzerland’s Rodwin Dionicio played hero at the world junior hockey championship Saturday, earning his team a 4-3 shootout win over Slovakia.
Dionicio, a defenceman for the Ontario Hockey League’s Niagara IceDogs, beat Slovak netminder Adam Gajan in the 10th round of the shootout.
Switzerland came into the third period down 3-1 but rallied with goals from Mischa Ramel and Lorenzo Canonica to force extra time. Liekit Reichele also scored and had an assist for the Swiss in regulation play.
Slovakia’s Adam Sykora opened the scoring 4:11 into the game and Servac Petrovsky added a pair of goals 49 seconds apart in the middle frame. Filip Mesar and Libor Nemec each contributed two helpers.
Slovakia, with two wins and one overtime loss, is tied with Finland for the top spot in Group B. The United States sits in third and Switzerland finishes the preliminary round in fourth place with three overtime wins.
Regulation wins at the tournament are worth three points, overtime wins are worth two and overtime losses are worth one.
The final day of round-robin action continues in Halifax Saturday with Group A’s Czechia taking on Germany and host Canada facing undefeated Sweden. Back in Moncton, N.B., Finland will battle the U.S.
Playoffs will begin Monday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 31, 2022.
