Canucks prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki sat out two periods of Sweden’s comeback win to advance to semifinals at World Juniors
Canucks prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki sat out two periods of Sweden’s comeback win to advance to semifinals at World Juniors
It’s always a close battle when Finland and Sweden meet in the Junior WC.
That was the case again on Monday as the teams were tied at one goal apiece after 40 minutes of play. Finland came out and scored in the third period to take a 2-1 lead, but Sweden came back late when Leo Carlsson tied the score at two with just under four minutes left in the third period.
Then, with 65 seconds left in the third period, Victor Stjernborg got by a Finnish defender and went in to score the game-winning goal for Sweden late in the game.
Sweden advances to the final four and will have at least two more matches in the tournament.
As for the Canucks outlook, it wasn’t a good day for Jonathan Lekkerimäki, who was benched five-on-five in the second period after having a lackluster first period. Lekkerimäki saw a shift in the second period and that was when Sweden was on the power play.
He continued to be benched in the third period, only seeing one shift as Sweden went to the man advantage.
Many say this is a 19-year-old tournament, and to some extent they are correct, but this is also a tournament for first-round picks, and Jonathan Lekkerimäki was selected 15th overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. Lekkerimäki is coming off a concussion so expectations weren’t extremely high for what he could do in this tournament, but his performance at the World Juniors is another disappointing showing in a long string of disappointing outings already this season.
As for Elias Pettersson, it wasn’t a great match for him either. He looked good for most of the game but was on the ice for both of Finland’s goals.
Pettersson came in with low expectations from us but has definitely played above what we expected from him. He is Sweden’s most trusted penalty-killing defender and consistently moved the puck out of his own zone with confidence. He has also been confident with his shot and jumps in to try and add to the offense.
We will now have at least two more games for Sweden as they will play in the semi-finals as well as either the gold or bronze game.
Maybe Lekkerimäki can turn things around and step up for Sweden. Our hope is that he at least plays consistent five-on-five minutes in the semifinal game. At this point, that would be a step in the right direction.
On a side note, with Finland out, goalkeeper Aku Koskenvuo is out of the tournament. He will return to Harvard to continue his NCAA season.