Updated November 9, 2023
Sweden did not get off to a great start on the Euro Hockey Tour 2023/24. After conceding four goals in the first period, Tre Kronor lost the Karjala Cup opener against the Czech Republic with 2-5 in Växjö.
On Thursday, the Karjala Cup began, where Sweden played its premiere at home in Växjö and Vida Arena against the Czech Republic. Sam Hallam was back in his former home arena and had to face the Växjö crowd, this time as the Swedish national team captain. Tre Kronor won the Euro Hockey Tour last year and were hoping to start the year’s first EHT victory with an opening victory.
However, Sweden got off to a nightmare start to the opening match when Radan Lenc, normally in HV71, splashed in 0-1 after just over a minute and a half behind national team debutant Carl Lindbom in the Swedish goal. The Czech Republic’s lead goal through Lenc was assisted by Färjestad’s David Tomasek. But the FBK player would also get to score in the match as there was a change of roles three minutes later when Radan Lenc served the just mentioned Tomasek to make it 0-2 for the Czech Republic after four and a half minutes and Tre Kronor accounted for a weak start in Växjö.
Tre Kronor looked to plug the big leak with five goalless minutes after the early Czech goals but after ten minutes played in period one came the next Czech goal when Jakub Flek headed in 0-3 for the Czech Republic after half the first period played (!). The Swedish team was obviously shaken by the weak start, but had a couple of approved changes out on the ice where, above all, the fourth chain with Max Friberg, Linus Johansson and Anton Bengtsson showed their forefoot.
But this did not matter. The Czech Republic was the most toxic going forward and they were, above all, terribly efficient. And in the 15th minute came 0-4 to the Czech Republic, something that became a heavy goal for national team debutant 20-year-old Carl Lindbom in the goal. Sam Hallam and his management staff chose to trade Lindbom for Linus Söderström and Hallam seemed to have a good chat with Lindbom right after the change to explain why.
Tre Kronor was probably looking for a positive injection before the final four minutes of period one, where they were completely overrun by an aggressive and pressing Czech team. Sweden conceded four goals in the first period and scored none themselves in a period that ended 0-4.
Second period
Sweden got an early sending off in the middle period but played it off in a successful way which gave the home team some momentum and confidence while the crowd in Växjö gave their support in a good way. Tre Kronor impressed with a couple of nice substitutions after the box play game and started to put pressure on the Czechs, something that paid dividends in the end. Victor Ejdsell found a nice pass from the left away to an advancing Tim Heed who spot-kicked in 1-4 in a nice reduction.
But the Swedish team received another cold shower in a quick reply. After carelessness in his own zone, Adam Kubik was able to steal the puck and outwit Linus Söderström with a backhand in the first cross to make it 1-5 for the Czech Republic and Sweden’s positive period suffered a setback.
Tre Kronor had a couple of positive periods in the period where the time around the reduction goal was good, but after the Czech Republic’s extended lead goal, Sweden fell back even more. Linus Söderström saved Sweden a couple of times from more Czech goals. A better Swedish period than the first went to the end after 1-1 in the period and 1-5 to the Czech Republic before the last period.
Third period
At the beginning of the third period, Sweden got the chance in the power play but neglected the reduction situation in the five-on-four game where they did not get into any dangerous situations at all. Time began to pass in Vida Arena and although most certainly did not believe in a Swedish turn in the Karjala Cup premiere, there was good hope for an improvement in the game at least. The Czechs pressured Sweden high in the offensive zone and Sweden had problems playing off the pressure throughout the match, likewise in parts of the third period.
Tre Kronor received a new reduction in the match, this after nine minutes of play in the third period. And this time it was Victor Ejdsell, with a goal-scoring pass for the first goal, who scored his first national team goal to make it 2-5 for Sweden after a nice run-up by Joel Persson.
Just like in the second period, Sweden got a little extra speed under their feet after their goal and they wanted to use their momentum. A Swedish expulsion in the offensive zone damaged the Swedish momentum during the last ten minutes of the match and Tre Kronor had to focus on keeping away Czech goals in box play instead.
Tre Kronor played off the Czech Republic’s numerical superiority and got four final minutes for a final force. Oscar Fantenberg was close to giving Sweden another reduction after a fine attack but missed the finish. Sweden moved up in the third period and played significantly better than in the first period and where Linus Söderström played well in the Swedish goal. But the Czech four-goal lead into the third period did the Czechs good, where they could play calmly and controlled in the last period so as not to squander their lead.
Sweden took out the goalkeeper in the last minute and a half but did not get any further reduction. Instead, the Czech Republic was able to hold on and managed a nice first victory in the Karjala Cup with 2-5 in Växjö and Vida Arena. Tre Kronor face Switzerland on Saturday in Tampere (12:00) and then face Finland on Sunday (16:00) to conclude the Karjala Tournament.
Finland won in parallel against Switzerland with 4-0 in Tampere after a hat-trick by former Oskarshamn player Antti Suomela.
Three Crowns – Czech Republic, 2-5 (0-4, 1-1, 1-0)
01:42 0-1 Radan Lenc (David Tomasek)
04:27 0-2 David Tomasek (Radan Lenc, Libor Zabransky)
10:42 0-3 Jakub Flek (Libor Zabransky)
15:16 0-4 Lukas Sedlak (Michal Repik)
28:26 1-4 Tim Heed (Victor Ejdsell, Dennis Rasmussen)
30:41 1-5 Adam Kubik
48:58 2-5 Victor Ejdsell (Joel Persson, Olle Alsing)
That’s how Sweden started
Goalkeeper:
Carl Lindbom
(Linus Söderström)
First five:
Tim Heed, Oscar Fantenberg
Jonathan Dahlén, Oscar Lindberg Jesper Frödén
Andrafemman:
Joel Persson, Carl Dahlström
Victor Ejdsell, Mario Kempe, André Petersson
Third Fifth:
Petter Granberg, Olle Alsing
Joakim Nygård, Dennis Rasmussen, Marcus Sylvegård
The Fourth Chain:
Anton Bengtsson, Linus Johansson, Max Friberg
Seventh back:
Niklas Hanson
13:e forward:
Oscar Eklind
16:00
Finland – Czech Republic
2023-11-10 02:28:22
#Heavy #start #Tre #Kronor #Karjala #Cup #collapsed #period #VMhockey.se
