Sweden Beats the U.S.A and Heads to the World Junior Final

The 24 hour lead up to this today’s World Junior Hockey Championship sounded rather dull for Sweden. While one would expect some celebration to take place over their win against the U.S, Timothy Liljegren claimed the team would return to their hotel, grab a bite to eat and then sleep.

Rasmus Dahlin shared those sediments stating,

“Rest, sleep, eat”

Liljegren and Dahlin wouldn’t confirm if they planned to watch the Czech-Canada game to see who they would face in the final. It seems like Sweden intends to leave the excitement behind on the ice, and that is evident with the precision of their passing, speed and shooting skills used in their 4 – 2 win against the U.S.A.

Liljegren stated,

“It feels amazing, we played a pretty good game today. We’ve been having a good feeling in the group for a while now. This was always the goal, to play in the final game.”

The Swedes tend to dominate the beginning stages of the World Juniors and often fail to get the job done when a medal is on the line. This has many joking that Sweden is similar to the Washington Capitals. The Swedes have failed to win gold in the World Juniors since 2012, and then failed to win bronze in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Tomas Monten, Sweden’s Coach stated,

“That’s more for you guys to write about,” said to the media assembled after the game. “But now we’re in the spot we want to be in and it’s going to be fun. Everyone wants to win the last game. That’s what we prepared for.”

USA Hockey

As for the Americans, they were hoping to win successive gold medals, especially being that this year’s World Juniors are on home soil, yet their lacklustre performance and inability to get the puck past Gustavsson the third period prove too little, too late for the team.

Coach for the U.S.A, Bob Motzko commented saying,

“This one blindsided us because we felt so strong with how we were going. We had a vampire suck it out of us today, it just tells you how tough it is.”

Sweden has an impressive line-up of talent, with many on its team expected to become top defensemen and forwards in the NHL. Thursday’s game saw its best talent on the ice including Timothy Liljegren, who thanks to some impressive skating, managed to dodge forecheckers in the Swedes zone and then send a pass that saw Lias Andersson score the second goal for Sweden. It was Elias Pettersson who got the scoring underway, but it was the two short-handed goal against Joseph Woll, a Maple Leaf prospect, during the same power-play that saw the Americans hopes of going to the finals disappear.

Woll played well until that point, and a save with his pads from a shot by Alex Nylander being one his best saves on the game. Woll also managed to set up a three-man breakaway against Sweden but the Americans failed to turn this into a goal. However, shots from Axel Jonsson Fjallby and Oskar Steen when Sweden was shorthanded put an end to the hopes of the U.S making to the finals.

Joseph Woll added that,

“It doesn’t feel very good. Our focus is on (Friday) now. There is still a medal on the line. It’s not what we came here looking for, but we’re going to go out and do our best to get bronze.”

As today’s final gets underway, it is a safe bet to say that bookmakers offering the best odds will see an increase in action coming from Canada and Sweden. Betway Sports, one of our top 10 sportsbooks has Sweden as the team favored to win, while William Hill seems to share that sediment. Who will win shall be seen!