Team Sweden kicked off their 2024 World Junior Championship with a dominant win against Latvia as they began the hunt for their first gold medal since 2012 and just their third in tournament history. This Swedish team is widely regarded as one of the strongest teams at the 2024 WJC, with plenty of experience and depth to put to use on home ice. Their skill was on full display in their first meaningful game of the competition, as a good majority of the Swedish team collected their first points of the tournament.
Settled In, Settled Down, Got Rolling
The Swedish players know that they are a favourite in this tournament, and they have the skill required to make a serious run at that elusive gold medal. But it is not unheard of for a skilled team to walk into their first game of the tournament a little over-confident and get upset by a weaker team. That looked like it could have been the case in this game, as a dangerous hit resulted in a penalty to top-pairing defenseman Elias Salomonsson just 25 seconds into the game.
The Winnipeg Jets’ second-round pick was removed from the game for the boarding call and handed Latvia a five-minute power play — a perfect opportunity for Latvia to build momentum early. Thankfully, Sweden settled down, and their defense held firm, restricting the Latvians to just four shots on goal, all of which their goaltender Hugo Hävelid kept out.
Related: 2024 Guide to the World Junior Championship
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Sweden’s massive five-minute kill helped bring the team into the game, and their skill became obvious once the game returned to even strength. They converted dominant puck possession and offensive zone time into a pair of power plays, from which they managed to collect a couple of goals. Both plays put the Swede’s strong blue line on display, with the first coming off a great shot from Axel Sandin-Pellikka, tipped home by Anton Wahlberg, and the second was slammed home by Filip Bystedt (later named player of the game) off a great feed from Mattias Hävelid. Bystedt was critical to Sweden’s offense last year, and he looks like he will resume that strong play this year.
Sweden Produced Strong Offensive Play
It is widely known that the Swedish teams in international competition tend to lean heavily on strong defensive play, and their offense can suffer as a result. While there were some very obvious tendencies to lean towards safer play once they…
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