Russia comes back from a 3-0 deficit to down Switzerland 5-4 in OT!

What started off as another impressive performance by Florence Schelling in goal turned sour in the third period as Russia scored four times in the third period before winning it in overtime!

Swiss forward Darcia Leimgruber gave the host nation a 1-0 lead 35 seconds into the contest for the only goal of a penalty filled first period. In the second period the penalty frustration from the first period carried over in the first five minutes of the middle frame. However all that would change at the 5:50 mark when Sara Benz took a feed from Julia Marty to give the hosts a 2-0 lead. Roughly eight minutes later Benz made her mark felt once more with an unassisted goal giving the Swiss a 3-0 lead after two periods.

In the third period Russia picked up their forecheck leading to their first score of the game at the 7:49 mark. After Swiss forward Phoebe Stanz was called for tripping Olga Permyakova got the Russians one goal closer midway through the period after Iya Gavrilova did the dirty work setting up the play. Just as Switzerland was finding their way up ice Russia struck again as Gavrilova fed Alexandra Kapustina to tie the game at 3-3. Less than a minute later Switzerland dug a deeper hole as Lara Stalder was called for Body Checking.

With the advantage winding down Olga Sosina gave her team a 4-3 lead with 5:39 to play. After each team spent two minutes of scoreless power play time the Russians appeared headed for victory with one minute to play. However Switzerland refused to go down without a fight as Stefanie Marty banged away and scored with 43 seconds remaining in the contest to tie the game once more. In the overtime Switzerland had the upper hand setting up for the game winning strike when Tatyana Burina took the puck and gave Russia a 5-4 win over the host Swiss.

With the win Russia moves onto the semifinals where they hope to avenge their 13-1 defeat they suffered at the hands of the US squad on Monday. Switzerland's rise that started with their home ice win over Finland on Sunday has been diverted here as they will now play for 5th place on Sunday against Sweden.

Box Score (IIHF)