“Sweden Dominates Austria in World Cup Ice Hockey Match”

The northerners stepped up for the expected win already in the fourth minute, when Par Lindholm opened the scoring, successfully deflecting Berggren’s shot. The Austrians kept pace with their opponent, but did not create significant chances. They checked Wallstedt’s attention only at the end of the first period.

The Swedes added the second goal in the twenty-seventh minute, when Sörensen ended de la Rose’s action with luck. The puck bounced off his stick and skipped over goalkeeper Starkbaum. His counterpart then knocked out opponents’ shots next to his own goal several times, and at the end of the second half, defender Nemeth brought the favorite closer to a three-point win with an accurate and hard finish.

Sweden then took the match to the winning end without any problems and added two more goals. Eighteen-year-old Carlsson, the youngest player at the tournament and the youngest Swede ever to start at the World Cup, was among the scorers. Wallstedt, who was given the opportunity today instead of Lars Johansson, needed only eighteen saves to get to zero.

“I think the whole team played very well and we controlled the game. We kept the puck in their zone as much as possible and created a lot of dangerous situations. That made it easier for us defensively when they got to us. I think we didn’t let them into many chances,” praised Wallstedt.

“In the first game (against Germany) we were all a bit nervous, but we won (1:0) and now we can relax and play our hockey. We are getting better and better, I am already looking forward to the next game,” said forward Alexander Nylander.

Goalkeepers keep us

“He made the first save maybe in the 10th minute, but then he held us back several times. It’s great for the team that we have two goalkeepers who will give us a chance to win every game with their saves,” said captain Jakob Silfverberg in reference to Wallstedt and Johansson, who he also catches at the WC for the first time in his career. But last year he competed at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

The Austrians did not make a tragedy out of a heavy defeat. “We have to take all the positives from the game. I think we played a good game. Sweden scored the first three goals after our mistakes and then when you go 0-3 into the third period you have to do everything you can to get back into games. And we did,” captain Thomas Raffl said.