photo: Andrea Cardin/IIHF
Tre Kronor scored two goals in a 41-second span midway through the first period and skated to a 5-1 win over Latvia tonight in Santagiulia. The win gives Sweden a date with the United States tomorrow in one of the four quarter-finals, while Latvia goes home with a 10th-place finish.
"This is what I've been waiting for," enthused Rasmus Dahlin. "It feels like the tournament starts for real now, so me and the team are extremely excited."
"Time’s flying, and I’m enjoying every single second of it," added defender Victor Hedman. "I told the other guys, that I’m being a little selfish. For me, it was huge to get this extra game since I haven't played a whole lot this year, so it’s good to get the timing and the legs into it."
"I’m definitely disappointed," admitted Latvia's Zemgus Girgensons. "Going out with a loss is never easy. I think overall we held it together pretty well, and it was small breaks of chances that we gave up that probably we could have eliminated. When it's a team like this, usually they'll capitalize on the mistakes. It is a game of mistakes in a tournament like this."
The Swedes opened the scoring at 10:55 after Joel Eriksson Ek kept the puck inside the Latvian blue line and threw a puck towards the goal. It bounced off the skate of Adrian Kempe, past an unsuspecting Elvis Merzlikins in goal.
Just 41 seconds later, captain Gabriel Landeskog showed superior football skills to make it 2-0. A long shot was saved by Merzlikins, but Landeskog kicked the airborne puck onto his stick and smacked it in in one quick motion.
It’s hard enough to beat Sweden, but even harder still when Tre Kronor has the lead. They have the ability to kill time, move the puck around, maintain possession, and do everything needed to kill the clock with efficiency. They added to their lead at 7:36 of the second off a nice play by Erik Karlsson, who held onto the puck inside the Latvia end until he spotted Filip Forsberg wide open in front. Forsberg merely put his stick on the ice and re-directed the pass into the open side to make it 3-0.
But credit to Latvia. They continued to fight the good fight and were rewarded three minutes later. Alberts Smits’s long shot was stopped by Jacob Markstrom, but Eduards Tralmaks was right there to knock the rebound in.
Late in the period Hedman took a penalty and Latvia went to work on the power play. They didn’t score, but they did have several chances and went to the dressing room on an upbeat note despite being down, 3-1.
By the time the third period started, though, Sweden had recovered and was back to its old style of play, waiting for errors and minding their own end. Sure enough, a Latvian turnover gave the Swedes a three-on-one, which they beautifully executed. In the end, Mika Zibanejad converted a Lucas Raymond pass at 5:54 to make it a more comfortable 4-1 game.
William Nylander added another just after a Latvia penalty expired, deking Merzlikins with a crazy move inside and out before roofing a backhand from a bad angle.
"This is what I've been waiting for," enthused Rasmus Dahlin. "It feels like the tournament starts for real now, so me and the team are extremely excited."
"Time’s flying, and I’m enjoying every single second of it," added defender Victor Hedman. "I told the other guys, that I’m being a little selfish. For me, it was huge to get this extra game since I haven't played a whole lot this year, so it’s good to get the timing and the legs into it."
"I’m definitely disappointed," admitted Latvia's Zemgus Girgensons. "Going out with a loss is never easy. I think overall we held it together pretty well, and it was small breaks of chances that we gave up that probably we could have eliminated. When it's a team like this, usually they'll capitalize on the mistakes. It is a game of mistakes in a tournament like this."
The Swedes opened the scoring at 10:55 after Joel Eriksson Ek kept the puck inside the Latvian blue line and threw a puck towards the goal. It bounced off the skate of Adrian Kempe, past an unsuspecting Elvis Merzlikins in goal.
Just 41 seconds later, captain Gabriel Landeskog showed superior football skills to make it 2-0. A long shot was saved by Merzlikins, but Landeskog kicked the airborne puck onto his stick and smacked it in in one quick motion.
It’s hard enough to beat Sweden, but even harder still when Tre Kronor has the lead. They have the ability to kill time, move the puck around, maintain possession, and do everything needed to kill the clock with efficiency. They added to their lead at 7:36 of the second off a nice play by Erik Karlsson, who held onto the puck inside the Latvia end until he spotted Filip Forsberg wide open in front. Forsberg merely put his stick on the ice and re-directed the pass into the open side to make it 3-0.
But credit to Latvia. They continued to fight the good fight and were rewarded three minutes later. Alberts Smits’s long shot was stopped by Jacob Markstrom, but Eduards Tralmaks was right there to knock the rebound in.
Late in the period Hedman took a penalty and Latvia went to work on the power play. They didn’t score, but they did have several chances and went to the dressing room on an upbeat note despite being down, 3-1.
By the time the third period started, though, Sweden had recovered and was back to its old style of play, waiting for errors and minding their own end. Sure enough, a Latvian turnover gave the Swedes a three-on-one, which they beautifully executed. In the end, Mika Zibanejad converted a Lucas Raymond pass at 5:54 to make it a more comfortable 4-1 game.
William Nylander added another just after a Latvia penalty expired, deking Merzlikins with a crazy move inside and out before roofing a backhand from a bad angle.
Qualification Playoff: Sweden vs Latvia - 2026 Men's Olympic Games
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