Playing near flawless hockey, Tre Kronor skated to an impressive 2-1 victory over Finland tonight at Avicii Arena in what was a very much one-sided game. The Swedes blocked shots, moved the puck with authority, and limited Suomi's chances to the bare minimum. Despite dressing only 18 skaters, they outshot Finland, 41-19, and were full measure for the win, which would have been more lop-sided but for the fine goaltending of Juuse Saros.



“He’s one of the greatest goalies in the world," Filip Forsberg said. "He keeps them in the game after two periods. Then a bounce later, it’s a game again. This was by far our best game here, and I think we spent, what, 60-70 percent of the time in their zone, and created a lot chances, and that’s something to build on.”

This marked the 70th all-time meeting between these great and ancient arch-rivals. Over that time, Tre Kronor holds a 42-12-16 record.

Sweden now jumps into first place in Group A with a 3-0 record for nine points. Finland remains in third place, now with a 1-1-0-1 record for five points.

“I think Finland played more passively last year. Tonight, they were more aggressive but at the same time, we carried the play. But Finland defends well, and a two-goal lead is nothing in hockey,” said Marcus Johansson.

Tre Kronor has a day off before playing Latvia on Wednesday while the Finns get an extended rest before facing Slovenia on Thursday.

“That’s what happens often when one team is down by two," said Teuvo Teravainen. "We clawed our way back, but we’ve got ways to go. Sweden’s a good team, and we have to play our own game. Tonight we didn’t quite get there. We believe in this team. We have two off days now, and we’ll need the rest."

The Swedes dominated the first period every which way. They scored the only goal, had six minutes of power-play time, and outshot Finland, 16-2. The goal came on the first power play. Erik Gustafsson’s point shot was stopped by Saros, but Leo Carlsson knocked in the rebound from the crease at 4:45, his third of the tournament. 

Carlsson had a great chance to score again a short time later when his shot eluded Saros and rolled by the post. 

The second period also belonged to the hosts, who skated harder, were more diligent to get to loose pucks, and maintained possession in the offensive end for sustained stretches. They made it a 2-0 game at 7:23 on a two-on-one. Lucas Raymond made the pass, and Jonas Brodin, who led all players with 23:00 of ice time, fired the one-timer to the far side as Saros over-committed to the near post.

The Finns made life interesting as the period wound down. Markstrom made an awkward save off a shot, and fell forward while leaving the puck in the crease. Harri Pesonen knocked it in at 13:04, and after video review it was determined to be a good goal. 

But that was as close as they could get. Sweden tidied up play in their own end and weathered the final storm with Saros on the bench for a sixth skater, sending the mostly pro-Tre Kronor fans home happy.