Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, Switzerland end their Olympic dream in devastating fashion

One thing was uniting New Jersey Devils fans across the world during the 2026 Winter Olympics. Just about all of us were rooting for Switzerland to go far into the tournament. And things were trending in the right direction. 

Nico Hischier and Timo Meier were playing well, with Meier on pace to break Olympic records (unless Connor McDavid got there first). Jonas Siegenthaler was playing a fine defensive game to get the Swiss to a five seed after the round robin. They finished second in their group behind the powerhouse Canada.

After beating 12th-seeded Italy in the qualifying round, they were up against Finland in the quarterfinals. Things continued to look good for Hischier, Meier, and Siegenthaler. The Swiss took a 2-0 lead in the first period. That’s how the score stood through the end of the second period. 

With 10 minutes left in the game and in Finland’s Olympic hopes, it was still 2-0. Juuse Saros shut the door for the rest of the game, but Finland could not break the dam on the other side. 

With about six minutes left, Sebastian Aho finally made his move. He scored to make it 2-1. Around four minutes later, now with just over a minute left in the game and the goalie pulled, Finland scored to tie the game. This time, it was Miro Heiskanen. He was assisted by Roope Hintz and Mikko Rantanen, his Dallas Stars teammates. 

The stars stepped up for Finland when they absolutely needed them to. The stars of Switzerland, which just happen to be stars of the New Jersey Devils, did not step up. 

The game went to overtime, and Artturi Lehkonen scored to send Switzerland home unhappy. The crowd was stunned, and the Swiss contingent was devastated. 

Siegenthaler is going to take his lumps since he was on Aho for the goal that made it 2-1 and on the ice for the game-tying goal, but we feel more of the pressure is going to come down on Hischier. He was the leader amongst the forwards, and he didn’t do enough offensively to get his team to the next round. 

It’s even more devastating knowing that a win here would guarantee the Swiss would play for a medal. 

Now, the focus is back on the NHL. It’s not great that the experience ended in such devastating fashion, but the change in perspective must come with them when they cross the Atlantic Ocean. It was still a great experience for the Swiss National Team, getting this increased exposure on an international stage.