Three stars from Day 4 of the WJC: Lysell, Sweden dominates all-European action
Sweden made its presence felt in an all-European match day at the World Juniors 2022.
The junior crowns established their dominance in Group B with a convincing 6-0 win over Austria. They will battle for first place in the group stage with the United States on Sunday.
Without two of their best young forwards, the Red Wings’ 2022 eighth overall pick Marco Kasper and the Canadiens’ second-rounder Vinzenz Rohrer, Austria struggled against the Swedes. The good news for the Austrians is that there will be no relegation in this rescheduled version of the Junior WC.
Slovakia saved their disappointment in Edmonton by taking their place in the quarter-final round.
The Slovaks – without the top two picks in the 2022 draft in Juraj Slafkovsky and Simon Nemec – fell 5-4 to their Czech rivals and then 11-1 to Canada earlier in the tournament. In their third game on Friday, Slovakia were held up by Latvia but eventually won 3-2 in a penalty shootout.
The loss means that Latvia ends up in the depths of the tournament. Latvia can take solace in the fact that the country stood up to Slovakia and took at least one point from their European counterparts.
Here’s a look at the top performances from Day 4 of the World Juniors:
3rd star: Isak Rosen, Sweden
Sweden had yet to score on the power play at Rogers Place, but Rosen rose to the occasion with a goal and an assist.
After a first period in which the Swedes had 21 shots but only one goal, Rosen added a second goal to his tournament tally and broke their power play drought.
The Austrians forgot the winger near the right faceoff circle. Fabian Lysell located Rosen with a cross-ice pass of his own and the young winger bagged the one-timer on one knee.
The rose later told the Swedish media that this was an important goal for his country after they spent the pre-tournament and the first game of the WJC without scoring on the power play.
The Buffalo Sabers prospect is known for his strong shot but he also has quite the passing ability. Rosen used his physicality to impose himself and get Sweden another goal.
The 19-year-old picked off Austria’s Tim Geifes along the boards and then found his captain Emil Andrae with a quick pass across the ice to record his country’s fourth goal of the game.
Rosen will cross the pond to North America for the first time for the upcoming season. The winger will play for the Rochester Americans in the AHL and be another addition to the young Sabres’ pipeline.
Honorable Mention: Slovakia’s Adam Sykora blew away the few fans in attendance with a flash of brilliance to earn his country a 1-1 draw in the first period. He skated past a defender and then played a give-and-go with Jakub Demek to fool Latvian goalkeeper Bruno Bruveris.
Slovakia will look to channel the relief from their shootout win against the high-flying Finns on Sunday. In the end, the Latvians hope to hold another tight game on Sunday against the Czech Republic.
2nd star: Emil Andrae, Sweden
A defender with two goals in a single game is always worth mentioning. Emil Andrae returned to the ice after a season-ending injury with HV57 and helped his team find another gear in the second period.
The 54th overall pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2021 was touted as a blueliner who can play on both sides of the puck and proved it against Austria.
Sweden’s captain scored two goals in 1:05 to keep the Austrians at bay and secure the win.
The five-foot-nine defenseman took advantage of Rosen’s forced turnover to score his first goal. Andrae was in perfect position to utilize his heavy wrist on the power play.
Andrae added his second goal from the point with another wrist shot headed into traffic to put Sweden up four goals. The captain chipped in a late secondary assist in the third period to end the game with three points and a plus-2 differential.
1st star: Fabian Lysell, Sweden
On an all-European afternoon, Fabian Lysell made his experience of North American ice known. The winger made sure to remind hockey fans that the Boston Bruins drafted him in the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft.
Lysell finished the game with a goal and an assist. He joins his teammates Rosen and Andrea as Sweden’s top scorers with three points each.
The winger may have missed a penalty but he bounced back admirably with a goal seconds later.
From a very tight angle, Lysell found the tiniest bit of space above Austrian netminder Sebastian Wraneschitz’s shoulder to score Sweden’s fifth of the match.
The winger showed that his game is not that far from the NHL and that he doesn’t mind getting his nose dirty. The Swede, who is used to North American ice playing for the Vancouver Giants of the WHL, crashed Wraneschitz’s net early in the game in an attempt to kick-start Sweden’s dominance.
Lysell and his compatriots will need to keep up the pace as Sweden look to take on the Americans on Sunday and the surprising Germans on Monday.