THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KOSICE, Slovakia — Kevin Lotscher scored twice Monday to help Switzerland earn a surprising 5-3 win over the United States in their final group match at the IIHF World Hockey Championship.
The Americans had already qualified for the playoff round, but the loss means they will now face defending champion Czech Republic in the quarter-finals on Wednesday after finishing fourth in Group F. Switzerland had already been eliminated.
"It should be an exciting game," said James van Riemsdyk, who scored for the Americans just a day after joining the team following the Philadelphia Flyers’ exit from the NHL playoffs.
"I was a little bit tired as the game went on but I’m glad to be over to represent my country," van Riemsdyk said. "It’s a quick turnaround, it’s a lot of emotions. It’s pretty devastating as your season ends but then you have a chance to represent your country."
Craig Smith gave the U.S. a 1-0 lead midway through the first period, but Lotscher equalized just 34 seconds later and the Swiss jumped out to a 3-1 lead after goals from Raphael Diaz and Ivo Ruthemann.
Ryan Shannon cut it to one on a breakaway but Lotscher restored the two-goal lead midway through the middle period.
Van Riemsdyk made it 4-3 with 1:43 remaining but Ryan Gardner score into an empty net to complete the upset.
In Bratislava, Finland rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat Russia 3-2 after a penalty shootout. Nikolai Kolyomin and Ilya Nikulin scored 11 seconds apart in the first period for Russia, before Mikko Koivu and Janne Niskala netted in the second to tie it up.
The Czech Republic maintained a perfect record with a 5-2 win over Germany behind two goals from Tomas Plekanec. Michael Frolik, Karel Rachunek and Patrik Elias also scored for the Czechs.
Also Monday, Marius Holtet scored four goals to lead Norway to a 5-2 win over France and book the last remaining place in the quarter-finals to play Finland Thursday.
Holtet is the leading scorer at the tournament with six goals.
"This has been a great tournament for us," said Norway coach Roy Johansen, whose team advanced to the quarter-finals for only the second time since the introduction of the playoffs in 1992.
In Bratislava, host Slovakia rallied from one goal down to beat Denmark 4-1 for a consolation victory after four straight losses in their last, meaningless match in Group E after both teams had been earlier eliminated.
Jozef Stumpel, Miroslav Satan, Marian Hossa and Richard Zednik all scored for Slovakia to give the home crowd something to cheer about.
