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Girgensons: Last-second loss to Switzerland ‘tough one to swallow’

Sochi Olympics Ice Hockey Men

Switzerland forward Simon Moser shot sails past Latvia goaltender Edgars Masalskis in the closing seconds of the game to give Switzerland a 1-0 victory during the 2014 Winter Olympics men’s ice hockey game at Shayba Arena, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Petr David Josek

Taking a step back, Latvia did well to just hold its own against Switzerland in Wednesday’s 1-0 loss, but that’s a small consolation right now. They were within seconds of taking the Swiss to overtime when Nashville Predators prospect Simon Moser ended the scoreless tie.

“Brutal -- that’s a tough one to swallow,” Buffalo Sabres and Latvian forward Zemgus Girgensons said, according to the Olympic News Service.

Latvian goaltender Edgars Masalskis was willing to look on the bright side though after turning aside 38 of 39 shots. He felt this contest demonstrated that they were capable of competing against challenging opponents, but he added that he would like to see the team play “braver” going forward.

“It’s hockey, somebody wins and somebody loses. But it’s a great pity, eight seconds,” Masalskis said. “Today we have showed that we can play against a very strong opponent. We’ll continue to fight the very next game.”

While Latvia did generate some scoring opportunities, it’s also fair to say that Switzerland was pounding them throughout the game and Latvia had to rely heavily on Masalskis and some great defensive plays to stay in this one for as long as they did.

“Our whole line was clicking and we had a lot of shots on the net, but you have to give the goalie credit as he made some big saves,” Damien Brunner remarked. “We stayed positive on the bench, even when it was close at the end. We had the most great effort and took some hard strides to get some room in between their goalie and defencemen.”

The Swiss stuck with it though, until it finally paid off. This was a key win for them ahead of their tough matches against Sweden on Friday and the Czech Republic on Saturday.

Related:

Switzerland stuns Latvia with late game-winner

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