How to watch
Puck drop: 4:00 PM EST / 1:00 PM PST
In Canada: TSN3, TSN5 (English,) RDS2 (French)
In the United States: NHL Network
Live stream: TSN Direct, RDS Direct
Team USA nearly ended Sweden’s unbeaten streak in the preliminary stage of the World Junior Hockey Championship. They could only watch as the Americans erased a four-goal deficit in the final half of the third period to get the game to overtime. But in the extra frame the Swedes managed to do what needed to be done to keep the streak alive, and now sit at 48 consecutive wins in the round robin portion of the event, dating back 12 years.
That’s all well and good for the nation, but they’ve rarely been able to carry that exceptional performance all the way through to a title. In those 12 years they’ve finished at least fourth every time, but have only been handed the gold medal on one occasion, back in 2012.
Oddly enough, that medal came in the year they faced the most adversity in the sample, needing overtime on four occasions to claim the trophy. Perhaps then the game against the United States and a flu bug making its way through the roster have provided the necessary bit of motivation to finish the job.
Switzerland is more than capable of halting their opponent’s run in 2018. They took the Czech Republic to overtime in the first game, had a one-goal game versus Canada early in the tournament, shut out the Danes, and held a 3-1 lead over Russia in their final game before a loss. They’re definitely not a team you want to be facing in the first of what would be three elimination games on the way to gold, so Team Sweden needs to be on its toes this afternoon.
Team Sweden projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #28 Fabian Zetterlund |
#22 Isac Lundeström |
#18 Jacob Olofsson |
| #10 Emil Bemström |
#29 Pontus Holmberg |
#26 Rickard Hugg |
| #23 Lucas Elvenes |
#27 David Gustafsson |
#11 Samuel Fagemo |
| #17 Filip Sveningsson |
#15 Oskar Bäck |
#19 Filip Hållander |
| #13 Johan Södergran |
|
|
Defencemen
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #12 Erik Brännström |
#16 Filip Westerlund |
| #3 Adam Boqvist |
#8 Rasmus Sandin |
| #5 Adam Ginning |
#9 Nils Lundqvist |
| #25 Philip Broberg |
|
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
| #30 Samuel Ersson |
| #35 Olle Eriksson-Ek |
Team Switzerland projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #22 Nando Eggenberger |
#23 Philipp Kurashev |
#9 Nicolas Müller |
| #18 Valentin Nussbaumer |
#13 Justin Sigrist |
#10 Yannick Brüschweiler |
| #17 Lucas Wyss |
#14 Sandro Schmid |
#15 Matthew Verboon |
| #6 Marco Lehmann |
#20 Ramon Tanner |
#11 Sven Leuenberger |
| #12 Jeremi Gerber |
|
|
Defencemen
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #4 Simon le Coultre |
#16 Nico Gross |
| #21 Tim Berni |
#26 David Aebischer |
| #8 Janis Jérôme Moser |
#7 Gianluca Burger |
|
#19 Davyd Barandun |
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
| #30 Luca Hollentstein |
| #29 Akira Schmid |
