For the Scandinavians, the tournament is over after this defeat, they should have won to have any chance of the knockout round. The departure is a disaster for the Swedes; apart from 10th place in 1937, they were never worse than 7th at a World Cup. HCD defender Magnus Nygren said it was a shame on them. “We weren’t good enough.” The Swedes started the tournament with defeats to Denmark (3: 4) and Belarus (0: 1) – they had never lost against these teams at a World Cup. This mortgage was ultimately too heavy.
Due to the defeat of the Swedes, all quarter-finalists in Group A have been determined: besides Switzerland, these are Russia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. With a win in regular time against Great Britain on Tuesday, the Swiss are at least second in the group.
For the Swedes it looked good against Russia at first. They took the lead in the 9th minute in the power play through a goal from Jesper Fröden and held it until the 53rd minute. Then they conceded two goals within twelve seconds, Anton Slepischew and Alexander Barabanow were responsible for that. Victor Olofsson saved the Swedes 2-2 (56th) in extra time, but it would have taken more.
The Czechs prevented the elimination with a 2-1 win after a penalty shootout against Denmark – if they had lost in regular time they would not have been able to reach the quarter-finals. After the favorite fell behind in the 4th minute due to Nicklas Jensen’s sixth goal at this tournament, he only managed to equalize despite clear superiority (total 38:13 shots on goal). Former Ambri striker Dominik Kubalik (46th) was responsible for this. In the penalty shootout, all four Czech shooters met.
In Group B, after defending champions Finland, the USA also reached the knockout round. The Americans defeated Germany 2-0 and celebrated their fifth win in a row. The shot ratio was 33:15 in favor of the Germans. Nevertheless, goalie Cal Petersen, who works for the Los Angeles Kings, came to his second shutout at this tournament after beating Kazakhstan 3-0. Jason Robertson scored the decisive goal in the power play (39.). With 27 seconds to go, Colin Blackwell made it all clear with a shot into the empty case.
Despite the third consecutive defeat, the Germans still have it in their own hands to qualify for the quarter-finals. If you win against hosts Latvia after 60 minutes on Tuesday evening, you are sure to be in the knockout round. The same goes for the Balts.
Kazakhstan lost to Norway after a 1-0 lead with 1: 3 – with a win after 60 minutes the Kazakhs would have reached the quarter-finals. Now they have to tremble and Canada still has a chance of progressing.
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