U20 World Cup: Sweden flawless, Canada powerless in the classic [WIDEO]

Posted On: December 30, 2023

In the previous two matches, the Swedes beat Latvia 6-0 and Germany 5-0, but today’s match against Canada was expected to be their first real test. With 11,512 spectators in the stands of the Scandinavium hall, they passed it with flying colors, beating the national team of their hockey homeland 2-0.

The hosts won thanks to goals from Tom Willander in the 22nd minute and Noah Östlund in the 31st minute. Both players have already been selected in the NHL draft. The first wearing number 11 was chosen this year by the Vancouver Canucks, and the second wearing number 16 last year was chosen by the Buffalo Sabres.

Magnus Hävelid’s players allowed the Canadians to make 21 shots, all of which were stopped by the coach’s nephew, Hugo Hävelid, who stood between the posts. The Swedes are the only team yet to concede a goal in this tournament. Their two goaltenders stopped a total of 56 shots.

Today’s victory means Sweden will exit the quarter-final group in first place, regardless of the outcome of their New Year’s Eve clash with Finland at the end of the group stage. Canada still has one match to play against Germany to maintain 2nd position in the table.

Sweden U20 – Canada U20 2-0 (0-0, 2-0, 0-0)
Willander (22nd), Östlund (31st)

The Finnish team achieved its first victory at this year’s World Junior Championships. After defeats against Canada and Germany, the “Little Lions” today beat Latvia 4-0.

Captain Jéré Lassila led his team to victory by scoring all the goals. He scored the first goal himself, then assisted his teammates three times and was voted the team’s best player.

Kasper Halttunen scored a goal and made an assist, while Oiva Keskinen and Jesse Pulkkinen also scored. In the third period, after the Latvian coach’s “challenge”, Jani Nyman’s goal was canceled due to goalkeeper interference.

Finnish goalkeeper Noa Vali kept a clean sheet, saving all 23 shots for the Latvians, who had not even scored a goal in their 3 matches in Gothenburg so far. Tomorrow they will finish the group stage with a match against Germany, but their chances of avoiding the relegation match are slim.

Latvia U20 – Finland U20 0:4 (0:2, 0:1, 0:1)
Lassila (15th), Pulkkinen (16th), Halttunen (29th), Keskinen (41st)

Group A table

Place	Team	Matches	Goals	Points
1.	Sweden	3	13-0	9
2.	Canada	3	15-4	6
3.	Germany	2	4-8	3
4.	Finland	3	9-9	3
5.	Latvia	3	0-20	0

SATURDAY:
Germany – Latvia

In the Group B match at Frölundaborgs Isstadion, the first penalty shootouts of the championship took place. The Americans beat the Czechs 2:1 and won the entire match 4:3.

Isaac Howard, selected a year ago in the first round of the NHL draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning, scored the overseas team’s first field goal, then decided the game with a penalty kick in the seventh round of the decisive match. series. The son of one of the best faceoff specialists in NHL history, Yanic Perreault, Gabe also scored for the penalty shootout winners, and Will Smith and Ryan Chesley also scored in the game.

The Americans, who were considered by many to be the leading candidates for the championship title, lost twice in the second half and then had to make up for their defeat in a series of penalties, but after three matches they have a complete series of victories. and on New Year’s Eve in the early afternoon they will play against Slovakia to qualify for the quarter-finals from 1st place in a group.

The Czechs still have a match against Switzerland, which will also take place on Sunday. We already know that they will not finish the group matches above 3rd place.

Czech Republic U20 – USA U20 3:4 (1:1, 2:2, 0:0, 0:0, 0:1)
Štancl (16th), Bareš (27th), Sapoušek (32nd) – Howard (2nd), (decisive penalty), Smith (29th), Chesley (35th)

In today’s other Group B match, Slovakia won for the third time in the tournament and, like Sweden, leads the group with all points. Ivan Feneš’s team was the first to concede a goal in the match against Norway, but they won 8:4, and the most important thing was the second half, which the Slovaks won 5:0.

Dalibor Dvorský and Servác Petrovský each scored 2 goals and 2 assists for the winners, Peter Repčík scored once and assisted once, scorers also included: Alex Čiernik, Juraj Pekarčík and Luka Radivojevič, and Filip Mešár and Maxim Štrbák each scored 3 assists. The Slovaks scored 4 of their 8 goals in advantage. In such situations, they already have 6 goals in 3 U20 World Cup matches.

For the first time in its history, Slovakia started the World Junior Championships with 3 victories, and they have not won 3 matches in the entire tournament since 2015, when they won their last medal in this category of age.

It didn’t help that the Norwegians scored the most goals in a match at the highest category U20 World Championship since January 4, 1990, when they beat Poland 7-3 in Finland, condemning the “Whites and Reds” were relegated at the time. group B. It was the penultimate appearance of the Poles in the elite Junior World Championships.

Today, Norway is a newcomer in the elite and after 3 matches they remain without points, and tomorrow they will play against Switzerland to reach the quarter-finals and avoid having to fight for relegation.

Norway U20 – Slovakia U20 4:8 (1:2, 0:5, 3:1)
Brandsegg-Nygård (4th), (55th), Solberg (49th), Vesterheim (55th) – Honzek (14th), Pekarčík (15th), Dvorský (24th), (54th), Petrovský (27th), (28th), Ciernik (33.), Radivojevič (35.)

Group B table