2018 World Junior Hockey Championship: Semifinal 1 — USA vs. Sweden: Preview, start time, TV schedule, and lineups
Team USA takes to the ice for the first semifinal of the day, versus a team from Sweden hoping to leave past failures behind.
If the USA is to repeat as gold medallists at the World Junior Hockey Championship, the team will need to get past perhaps the most talented roster entered into the tournament.
Both Sweden and the United States are fairly evenly matched, with similar offensive and defensive numbers to this stage.
Sweden has received slightly better goaltending, with Filip Gustavsson outperforming Joseph Woll. The Swedish netminder has also benefitted from a stronger defensive effort in front of him, with the country allowing an average of just 1.71 goals through five games.
There are star talents on both squads, with Casey Mittelstadt, Brady Tkachuk, and Kieffer Bellows set to duke it out with Elias Pettersson, Lias Andersson, and Alex Nylander for the duration of the contest. There are good players on the back end as well, with the likes of Dylan Samberg and an explosive Adam Fox up against a strong Swedish defence led by 17-year-old phenom Rasmus Dahlin.
The matchup features two teams with few weaknesses, and should be one of the most entertaining games of the 2018 tournament.
How to watch
Puck drop: 4:00 PM EST / 1:00 PM PST
In Canada: TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, TSN5 (English) RDS (French)
In the United States: NHL Network
Live stream: TSNGO
Team USA projected lineup
USA Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| #23 Kieffer Bellows | #4 Ryan Poehling | #17 Kailer Yamamoto |
| #7 Brady Tkachuk | #11 Casey Mittelstadt | #13 Joey Anderson |
| #49 Max Jones | #9 Josh Norris | #21 Patrick Harper |
| #27 Riley Tufte | #34 Trent Frederic |
USA Defencemen
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| #12 Dylan Samberg | #8 Adam Fox |
| #5 Ryan Lindgren | #15 Scott Perunovich |
| #24 Mikey Anderson | #20 Andrew Peeke |
| #6 Quinn Hughes |
USA Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| #30 Jake Oettinger |
| #1 Joseph Woll |
Team Sweden projected lineup
SWE Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| #17 Frederik Karlström | #24 Lias Andersson | #19 Alexander Nylander |
| #28 Fabian Zetterlund | #16 Linus Lindström | #14 Elias Pettersson |
| #9 Tim Söderlund | #20 Isac Lundeström | #29 Oscar Steen |
| #12 Glenn Gustafsson | #10 Marcus Davidsson | #22 Axel Jonsson-Fjällby |
| #21 Jesper Boqvist |
SWE Defencemen
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| #27 Jacob Moverare | #7 Timothy Liljegren |
| #8 Rasmus Dahlin | #26 Erik Brännström |
| #23 Jesper Sellgren | #5 Gustav Lindström |
| #6 Linus Högberg |
SWE Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| #30 Filip Gustavsson |
| #1 Filip Larsson |