Patrick Kane

This will be a quick preview in a pinch-hitting role, so bear with us.

The United States is still on Cloud Nine after their unbelievable 5-3 upset victory over Canada on Sunday.  Reports are that Vancouver stood silent on Sunday night – a good feeling after beating the home squad.  But now, the real fun of the Olympic tournament begins.

Switzerland earned a second opportunity to knock off the Americans after a 3-2 shootout win over Belarus yesterday afternoon.  The reason Switzerland was in the knockout round in the first place was due to a 3-1 loss to the United States in each team’s opening Olympic game in group play – a game that included David Backes and his sweet end-to-end goal (the 2nd goal here).  In that game, Switzerland showed that they’re SO much more than banks, cheese, Army knives and koo-koo clocks.  They’re not spectacular, but they will compete.

Switzerland’s strength derives from their play on the defensive end.  They have one of the tournament’s best goaltenders in Jonas Hiller, one of the tournament’s best stay-at-home defensemen in Mark Streit and a handful of young defensive up-and-comers such as Yannick Weber and Luca Sbisa.  This is not to say they can’t score goals – former NHLer Hnat Domenichelli and youngster Julien Sprunger have supplied much of the offense for Switzerland in this tournament.

The key to the game will be the United States’ depth, specifically the team’s 3rd and 4th lines and how they match up to the top Swiss lines.  This would include Backes, whose forechecking will be very important to the success of the United States team.  It wouldn’t hurt to pull off another coast-to-coast finish, either, but my guess is that the Swiss will have that one covered by now.

PREDICTION: United States 4, Switzerland 2 in another tooth-and-nail game.  United States goals by Patrick Kane, Phil Kessel, Backes (AGAIN!) and – in a surprise – Jack Johnson (hey, Rafalski can’t score ALL the goals from the point, can he?).  Swiss goals by Domenichelli and Martin Pluss.

U-S-A!  U-S-A!  U-S-A!