I don’t think I have ever seen a team from Sweden play this physical and this very well could be a preview of the final that occurs on Saturday night.
Calgary Hitman forward Ben Kindel opened up the scoring for the Canadians at 7:20 of the first period with the assists on the goal going to Caleb Desnoyers and Matthew Schaefer. Kindel who hails from Coquitlam, BC is ranked at #48 by Draft Prospects Hockey for the 2025 NHL Entry Draft.
Shots on net in the first period were 7 apiece
Gavin Mckenna fired a shot from the point right off the face off past Swedish tender Isak Sorqvist to make it a 2-9 Canada game at 12:32 of the third period. The assist on the goal went to Cole Reschny.
Sweden responded back just moments later when buried one in a scramble to get them on the board and make it a 2-1 game. The goal was scored by Milton Gastrin assists on the goal went to Ivar Stenberg and Viktor Klingsell at 13:05 of the third period.
Shots on goal in the third period were 13-7 for the Canadians. Canada outshot the Swedes 30-24.
For Canada Jack Ivankovic made 23 saves on the 24 shots that he faced for the win for Canada. For the Swedes Isak Sorqvist made 28 saves on the 30 shots that he faced.
Player of the game for Sweden was goalie Isak Sorqvist and for the Canadians it was goalie Jack Ivankovic. Both goalies played great. I expect to see those 2 guys starting in the World Juniors in a few years.
Canada will play the semifinal round against the USA on Friday, while Sweden will face Czechia.
Cootes was handed a game misconduct on the play and was ejected. He will be able to return to the lineup for either the bronze or gold medal game that is slated for August 10th. Cootes has one assist in two games. LINK
