The Swedes edge the Finns in the first quarter-final
In Moncton, the Finns went out with determination. They took a 1-0 lead at the 3:10 mark. Assistant captain Ville Koivunen’s wrist from the left point caught a lucky bounce off Swedish forward Noah Ostlund’s skate, and on the far side of the crease Oliver Kapanen got the puck over the challenging Lindbom’s left pad.
“This was my last chance to play here,” Oliver Kapanen said. “I gave everything today, left everything on the ice.”
Sweden didn’t register a shot on target until almost 12 minutes in, as the Finns did a good job of keeping their opponents out.
Sweden’s afternoon improved when Ludvig Jansson – a 19-year-old Södertälje skater who leads Sweden’s defense in goals – sent the puck from the right faceoff circle to Carlsson in front. Carlsson tipped the puck past Lampinen’s right skate to tie it up. The 18-year-old Örebro striker is named as a potential top-5 pick for the 2023 NHL draft.
Oliver Kapanen had a great chance to put Finland back in front with just over a minute left in the first when Koivunen fed him just in front, but Lindbom was equal to the challenge. The Swedes were content to come away with a draw after 20 minutes despite being outshot 9-2.
“The first period was good for us,” said Oliver Kapanen. “Then Sweden bounced back in the game. They were good in the second period and they had a couple of chances to score.”
Around the seven-minute mark of the second period, Lampinen stoned Carlsson directly from the gap and then Fabian Wagner shot the rebound high and wide.
A couple of minutes later, the snake-bitten Fabian Lysell, futile in his second World Juniors, crossed to ring one of the keeper’s right-hand post with traffic in front. The top Boston Bruins prospect hit the post again on a Swedish power play midway through the period. Things seemed to be going Finland’s way.
At 4:03 of the third period, Huuhtanen gave Finland the lead with a sweet snipe from the right faceoff circle. He celebrated his second goal of these world juniors with gusto on the sideboards as his teammates mobbed him.
The teams traded ineffective power plays, neither having much success with the man advantage in this tournament, but Finland continued to push the game on balance. The Swedish keeper had to be sharp to deny Nyman cutting hard to the net.
Lampinen was under siege as the Swedes pushed for the equalizer at the end of the match. He made a pad save on Bystedt’s drive from the left faceoff circle, but couldn’t control the rebound, which Carlsson tapped in at 16:33.
Finland had a great chance to regain the lead when Lysell was sent off for high-sticking at 18:14, but it only led to Stjernborg’s winner. Lindbom then made a fantastic glove save from a Joakim Kemell one-timer to preserve the Swedish lead with 46 seconds remaining.
“Our PK was really good, our goalie played well,” Lamsa said. “With a power play goal, it could have been a win for us.”
This was only the third World Junior quarter-final match between the Nordic arch-rivals in history. Finland beat Sweden 1-0 in 2006 in Vancouver with a 53-save finish from Tuukka Rask. In 2021 in Edmonton, Roni Hirvonen’s goal with 25 seconds remaining gave Finland a 3-2 victory.
The last World Junior playoff meeting between these rivals was in 2022. Finland beat Sweden 1–0 in the semifinals on Kasper Puutio’s second-period power play goal. Goalkeeper Juha Jatkola had a shutout with 23 saves. But it feels like a distant past now, even though it was less than five months ago.