Milan, 17 February (LaPresse) – Italy's men's ice hockey team's journey at the Milan Cortina Olympics comes to an end in the round of 16. At the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena, the Azzurri are defeated 3-0 by a stronger Switzerland, under the watchful eye of Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and the president of the Milano Cortina Foundation, Giovanni Malagò. The Swiss team thus advances to the quarter-finals against Finland. For Italy, this is the fourth defeat in as many games in what has unfortunately been a negative campaign, despite the arrival of Finnish coach Jukka Jalonen, a former Olympic champion. The stands were almost completely full in Rho, despite the not-so-convenient morning schedule. It was an uphill battle for Italy right from the start, as Switzerland broke the deadlock less than three minutes after the opening face-off. The goal was scored by Philipp Kurashev, who found the back of the Italian net on assists from Nico Hischier and Timo Meier. Taking advantage of a two-minute penalty imposed on Thomas Larkin for holding the stick, Switzerland extended their lead in the first period. With a man advantage, Roman Josi scored the 2-0 goal, assisted by Sven Andrighetto and Nico Hischier. In the second period, a strong Italy tried to react, resisting the Swiss attacks, and in the final minutes of the period, they even came close to scoring a couple of times, which would have reopened the game. At the start of the third period, Switzerland again took advantage of their numerical superiority to score their third goal through Nico Hischier, assisted by Damien Riat and Timo Meier. This was the final blow for the Azzurri, who proudly tried until the end to score at least a consolation goal but were unable to do so.