Canada wins 4-3 over Sweden in pre-world junior test
Canada scored three unanswered goals in the first period, including one on the power play, and went on to defeat Sweden 4-3 on Monday in the final exhibition matchup before Tuesday’s start of the rescheduled 2022 World Junior Hockey Championship at Rogers Place.
Nathan Gaucher, Mason McTavish, Kent Johnson and Joshua Roy scored for the Canadians, who led 3-1 after 40 minutes but had to fend off a spirited Sweden comeback in the third period.
Theodor Niederbach, Jonathan Lekkerimaki and William Wallinder scored for Sweden, which lost a 2-1 overtime decider against Finland in an exhibition match on 4 August. This was Canada’s lone Test before the tournament.
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Canada outshot Sweden 30-26 and went 1-for-4 with the man advantage. Sweden went 0-for-5 on the power play.
Dyland Garand started in net for Canada, stopping all 15 shots he faced. He was replaced by Sebastian Cossa at 9:21 of the second period, who stopped eight of 11 shots.
Canada opens its tournament on Wednesday with a match against Latvia, while Sweden opens its tournament against Switzerland, also on Wednesday.
The first attempt at the World Junior Hockey Championship tournament was canceled in December due to the spread of covid-19. This restart at Rogers Place has 10 U-20 teams ready to fight for the coveted medals.
The world juniors, who play all matches at Rogers Place, open on Tuesday with three matches. Slovakia plays the Czech Republic in the opener, followed by Finland against Latvia and Germany against the USA.
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