Tre Kronor stepped out to the third group game match with the knife to the throat. After two straight losses against Denmark and Belarus, only victory was against Switzerland. It was a completely different Sweden that stepped out on the ice in this match than in the two previous matches. The Swedes played aggressively and tore for each other. This resulted in the first victory of the World Cup tournament when Tre Kronor crushed Switzerland and wins the match 7-0.
Tre Kronor chose to rotate in the chains for the match against Switzerland. In part, Carl Klingberg was not on the team due to his injury, which means that he will miss the rest of the World Cup. You can read more about his injury here. The Kempe brothers got the chance together in the second chain, Växjö player Pontus Holmberg was completely poked and replaced by Luleå player Filip Hållander. Jesper Frödén was also a player who got the chance for the first time in this championship. All these rotations were to try to bring the Swedish game to life and it would prove to be a very successful move by the national team captain Johan Garpenlöv. Especially gratifying that Frödén got to score two goals and an assist in his debut in this World Cup.
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It started uphill for Tre Kronor in the match when they were sent off after just a few seconds. But Sweden managed to get expelled even if it got messy in front of the Swedish goal on a couple of occasions. After the expulsion, Sweden was able to start establishing a game in the match and it was a very aggressive Sweden in the beginning of the match, something we did not see at all in the same way in the two initial matches in the World Cup.
Sweden’s hard pressure against Switzerland’s backs gave results after nine minutes when Jesper Fröden opened the scoring for Tre Kronor to 1-0. Just a minute later, it was time again when Adrian Kempe sent a shot from distance that looked into the net and 2-0 to Tre Kronor was a fact. The start of the match was clearly the best 10 minutes that Sweden has played so far in this tournament.
Tre Kronor continued to play aggressively and skate a lot throughout the period. A completely different attitude towards previous matches and Sweden could go to the break after the first period with a 2-0 lead.
Sweden continued to play quickly and offensively at the beginning of the second period. And in numerical superiority after 2.33 into the second period, Victor Olofsson was able to send in 3-0 to Tre Kronor through a high-class finish. Thus, Sweden also broke the deadlock for goals in powerplay in this World Cup tournament. Halfway into the period, Jesper Fröden shoots his second goal of the match and 4-0 to Sweden. A real dream debut for Jesper Fröden.
The goal for Tre Kronor also made Switzerland choose to pick from its goalkeeper Leonardo Genoni and replace Melvin Nyffeler in the goal. Thus, Nyffeler had to make his World Cup debut for Switzerland.
Sweden continued to control the match and continued to fight for each other and tore for each other in a completely different way. Above all, the chain Max Friberg – Andreas Wingerli – Jesper Fröden were phenomenal even during the second period. But the whole Tre Kronor overall was a completely different team out on the ice today compared to the previous matches. Sweden incurred an expulsion in the final stages of the period just when Switzerland had begun to put pressure on the Swedish team. But Sweden fought through that expulsion before Switzerland itself incurred an unnecessary expulsion due to too many players on the field. Tre Kronor thus went to the break after two periods with a reassuring 4-0 lead.
Switzerland immediately at the beginning of the third period incurred an unnecessary expulsion and Sweden got the chance in game three against five. A chance that Tre Kronor managed well when Rickard Rakell nicely behind the back played forward Magnus Nygren who could send in 5-0 to Sweden. The goals continued to fall in for Sweden when Nils Lundkvist was able to make it 6-0 to Tre Kronor when there were twelve minutes left of the match and he also had to sign for the first time in the goal record during this championship.
Sweden just continued to play ice hockey in this match and after a really nice game by Sweden, team captain Henrik Tömmernäs was finally able to score his first goal in the match and Tre Kronor took the lead with 7-0 (!) Against Switzerland. It probably did not see many come after the first two matches in this championship.
Sweden slowed down a bit after the last goal but the victory was secured for a long time and Sweden finally wins the match 7-0 and the first victory in the championship was thus collected.
There were many outfielders who made great efforts in the must-win match against Switzerland. But also Sweden’s goalkeeper Adam Reideborn was responsible for several fine saves, which bodes well for upcoming matches in this championship.
The only smolt in the cup of joy from this match was that Nils Lundkvist, who had been Sweden’s best defender so far into the championship, went on a rampage with a few minutes left of the match and was forced to step off the ice. It is still unclear how serious the injury was to Lundkvist.
The victory against Switzerland was a big step forward for Tre Kronor but they still have a long way to go after the first two losses. Tre Kronor has, among other things, the Czech Republic and Russia and Slovakia, who previously defeated Russia left to face in this group game.
The next match for Tre Kronor will be played against the Czech Republic on Thursday 27 May, the match starts at 19:15.
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