Participating Countries
Download the official app
Sweden wins, so does Denmark!
Sweden wins, so does Denmark!
Swiss don't move to quarters after 5-1 loss
TORONTO, CANADA - DECEMBER 31: Sweden's Lucas Wallmark #23 with a scoring chance against Switzerland's Ludovic Waeber #1 while Yannick Rathgeb #27 defends and Adrian Kempe #29 looks on during preliminary round action at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/HHOF-IIHF Images)
Sweden counted four of its goals on the power play and limited the Swiss to just 14 shots.
"We have good chemistry," Nylander said of the team's potent power play. "We played together at the U18s, and we're getting better and better still. It's a lot of fun."
The result means that Denmark has reached the quarter-finals for the first time while the Swiss have to cheer for the Russians in the late game in Toronto. The Czech Republic needs a regulation-time win to advance; otherwise, Switzerland will be in the quarter-finals.
Sweden finished the preliminary round with a perfect 4-0-0-0 record this afternoon before another enthusiastic crowd of 13,857 in Toronto.
"You don't want to go in the game thinking it doesn't matter," Nylander said of Sweden's top position in Group B. "If we had a bad game today, we might have developed bad habits that would hurt us in the next game, so we wanted to keep playing the way we have."
The Swiss opened the scoring at 3:29 when Yannick Rathgeb fired a long shot under the glove of Linus Soderstrom. Soderstrom, who has played every minute in goal for the Swedes so far, would like another crack at that routine shot.
A minute and a half later, Michael Hugli of Switzerland took a tripping penalty, and five seconds later Adrian Kempe fired a great shot over the shoulder of Ludovic Waeber to tie the score, 1-1.
Sweden took control of the game with two quick goals from Oskar Lindblom in the second period, and Leafs draft choice William Nylander was part of both. First, he set up Lindblom just eleven seconds into another power play. Lindblom’s quick shot found a small space under the blocker arm of Waeber.
Continue readingLess than three minutes later, Lindblom found a loose puck in the crease after a nice rush by Nylander, making it a 3-1 game.
The game took a nasty turn for the worse midway through the period when Rathgeb landed a glancing blow to the head of Anton Blidh. Blidh had to be helped off the ice and Rathgeb was given a five-minute major and game misconduct. Supplementary discipline might well be how the Swiss defenceman starts his 2015.
Worse for the Swiss, the Swedes scored twice on the ensuing power play. Gustav Forsling, with his deadly accurate point shot, drilled another on goal, but it was tipped by Lindblom on the way into the net, giving him a hat trick on the afternoon at 14:45.
Nylander earned his third assist on the night, moving him into a tie for the overall scoring lead with Lindblom. Both have seven points in four games.
"I think the first one was my favourite of the three," Lindblom enthused, "because it was my first of the tournament and both my linemates had already scored.
"That's always my goal," Nylander said, "is to be among the scoring leaders. That's something that all top players want and something I strive for. If you're producing, you're probably playing well."
Just 26 seconds later Jens Looke added a fourth power-play goal on the afternoon, after which the game got chippy.
The Swiss had a chance to get back into it a little bit with a two-man advantage early in the third, but they failed to create even one decent scoring chance.
Back to Overview
