Captain Jack Berglund, Anton Frondell, and Viggo Bjorck scored two goals apiece to pace Sweden to a 8-1 thumping of Germany in Monday's early Group A action. The Swedes boast an unblemished 3-0 record so far at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, upholding their tradition of preliminary-round excellence.

"We had, from the start, good energy," Berglund said. "We came at them hard. Allowed a bit of an unlucky goal against there in the first, but we came back strong in the second period. Got an early goal, and after that, we just continued pushing."

Special teams were key as the Swedish power play cashed in four times. The Swedes now get two days off before facing the host U.S. in a New Year's Eve showdown.

Asked if there was extra motivation against the Americans in view of the U.S.'s 6-2 gold-medal win in Gothenburg in 2024, defender Sascha Boumedienne said: "One hundred percent. We're on their home soil now and looking to beat them here. That makes it even more fun."

Swedish coach Magnus Havelid got big contributions from his defence. Felix Ohrqvist stepped up with a goal and an assist, and Boumedienne, Alfons Freij, and Leo Sahlin Wallenius had two helpers apiece. Forward Liam Danielsson also got his first goal, and Eddie Genborg had two assists.

Final shots favoured Sweden 44-17. Swedish goalie Herman Liv made 16 saves for a winning World Junior debut. Germany's Linus Vieillard was replaced by Lukas Stuhrmann after giving up five goals through two periods.
 

Elias Pul tallied the lone goal for Germany, which has lost three straight. The Germans have a must-win game against also-winless Switzerland on Tuesday.

"It will be the hardest battle," said German captain Tobias Schwarz. "You can expect we will battle hard. We want to win. Everybody needs to be at their best. I think we have a chance, but we need to play our best hockey tomorrow."

The Juniorkronorna got off to an optimal start. Set up by Alfons Freij from the centre point, Frondell opened the scoring at 1:45 on a power-play one-timer from the right faceoff circle.

At 7:04, the Germans exploited a Swedish defensive breakdown to tie it up on their first shot on net. Maxim Schafer stole the puck inside the German blue line and sped away. It became a two-player breakaway when Danielsson fell while trying to catch Elias Pul, who accepted a last-moment pass from Schfer and scored blocker side.

Just after another German minor expired early in the second period, Viggo Bjorck restored the Swedish lead at 1:03. Boumedienne alertly found Wilson Bjorck's younger brother in the right faceoff circle and the Djurgarden forward cued up a shot that eluded Vieillard on the short side.

Liv praised Viggo Bjorck: "He's difficult to stop in practice. He's really smart."

The Swedes were buzzing in the offensive zone and it paid off. Berglund parked himself on the doorstep with his stick at the ready and was left unmolested to direct in Sahlin Wallenius's hard cross-ice pass for a 3-1 lead at 8:11.

With under seven minutes to play in the middle frame, onrushing German D-man Nick Mahler had a wide-open opportunity but put it off the side of the net. Coach Tobias Abstreiter's troops would get no closer than that.

At 15:34, the Swedish power play clicked again as Bjorck slid one past the German netminder's left skate. And Ohrqvist put the game out of reach at 19:29 as he walked to the top of the faceoff circle before slinging a wrister past Vieillard.

In the third period, Freij hooked up Frondell for another power-play one-timer at 5:34. On a 5-on-4, Danielsson made it 7-1 with 2:35 left, and Berglund added his second goal at the buzzer.

About facing the Americans, Berglund noted: "We have to be careful with some things like taking too long shifts or getting stuck on the blue lines. Stuff like that can punish us against the U.S. If we have a bad change, bad turnover, they will come with speed. We need to be ready for that."