In yet another all-Scandinavian match, both teams came out flying, Sweden getting the first rush, but the Hansen-Eller-Ehlers line counterpunched immediately. However, their momentum would be stalled by a penalty to Stefan Lassen less than a minute in. Two Habs saw the ice against each other, as prospect Magnus Nygren and Lars Eller faced each other on the Swedish powerplay. The Swedes had a splendid chance that beat Dahm, but bounced off the post, and the first penalty was successfully killed.
The Swedes had some time with the puck, but were unable to complete passes cleanly. Denmark shot itself in the foot again, as Nicklas Jensen took a tripping call on Gustav Nyquist. Nygren made his presence felt on the powerplay again, but the Danish penalty kill remained perfect, limiting the Swedes to one shot on net.
Denmark had a series of very good shifts towards the end of the period, and eventually Bau drew a penalty, sending them to their first powerplay. All of nine seconds later, Ehlers made a fantastic shot from the blue line, which bounced off a Swedish stick and into the back of the net for his first World Championship goal.
With three left in the period, Sweden took a too many men penalty, though the best chance was a Swedish one by Alexander Wennberg, negated by a fantastic defensive play by Daniel Nielsen. Ehlers nearly had a second goal, as he dusted Nygren, but Viktor Fasth was up to the challenge, and the period came to an end with no further score. Shots were 11-9 Sweden.
Less than a minute into the second, Sweden was whistled for high-sticking, and Denmark again went to the powerplay. Ehlers continued to shine, but the Swedish penalty kill was successful. Eller, Ehlers and Hansen continued to create problems for Sweden, collecting a few more scoring chances, but they were unable to beat a solid Fasth.
7:03 into the second Robert Rosen broke Dahm’s shutout streak, tying the game up at one. The wheels started coming off after that, as Morten Madsen took a penalty, and the puck went off Oliver Lauridsen and in.
Ehlers continued to leave his mark on the game, drawing another penalty for Denmark with his speed, but nothing came of it, and toward the end of the period, they took two quick penalties, Madsen for tripping, and Jesper B. Jensen taking four for highsticking. Dahm made some absolutely stellar saves, but Denmark had no answer for Nygren’s signature slapshot.
After a perfect penalty kill got Denmark out of hot water in their first game, the penalties finally caught up with them, as Mikael Backlund scored on the second half of Jensen’s penalty, putting the Swedes up 4-1 to end the second.
The third period was largely uneventful, with the teams trading chances, until Sweden was dinged for too many men. The Danish powerplay had some really good chances, before Mads Christensen negated the powerplay with yet another penalty. Nyquist scored on the ensuing 4 on 4.
It didn’t get any better for Denmark after that, as Ehlers took Denmark’s eighth straight penalty with just over five minutes left in the period, however, this one was killed off without further damage.
With 6.4 seconds left in the period, a wide open Jesper Jensen made it 5-2, as the Swedes got stuck watching Patrick Bjorkstrand coming around the back of the net.
Sweden plays the Czech Republic tomorrow at 1:15 EST, while Denmark will see Switzerland at 9:15 on Tuesday.
