Sweden beats Finland in World Juniors
MONCTON, NB –
Victor Stjernborg scored a short-game goal with 65 seconds remaining and Sweden defeated rival Finland 3-2 in the quarterfinals on Monday at the world junior hockey championship.
Finland took a 2-1 lead into the third period when Niko Huuhtanen scored just over four minutes into the final frame.
Sweden pushed for an equalizer and equalized when Leo Carlsson scored his second of the game with less than four minutes remaining.
Finland had an opportunity to regain the lead when Sweden’s Fabian Lysell was penalized for high-sticking with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. But instead Stjernborg won the puck at center after a Swedish clear, then he went in alone and beat Finnish goalkeeper Jani Lampinen for the winning goal.
Sweden will meet the winner of a quarterfinal between the Czech Republic and Switzerland in Wednesday’s semifinal.
In Monday’s second quarterfinal, the United States faced Germany and defending champion Canada faced Slovakia.
Meanwhile, Latvia defeated Austria 5-2 in the opening game of a best-of-three relegation series.
Oliver Kapanen had the second goal for Finland.
Carl Lindbom made 33 saves for Sweden, while Lampinen stopped 17 shots for Finland.
LATVIA 5 AUSTRIA 2
HALIFAX — Emils Veckaktins scored two goals and Bogdans Hodass had a goal and two assists as Latvia m.
Oved a step towards remaining among the top world junior teams.Dans Locmelis and Sandis Vilmanis also scored for Latvia, who beat Austria 46-13.
Luca Auer and Vinzenz Rohrer scored for Austria.
The teams meet again on Wednesday. The winner of the regulation series will appear at next year’s World Juniors in Gothenburg, while the loser will be relegated to Division I Group A.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on January 2, 2023.