Every time Sweden and Finland face off in the World Junior Championship, it’s an instant classic, and this was no different. Last year, Finland beat Sweden in overtime in the semifinals. This time around, Sweden returned the favor and beat Finland, 4-3, in a thrilling shootout victory, and they’ll be going to the gold medal game.
Quick Starts
Earlier in the tournament, starting the game and coming out of the intermissions, Sweden was slow to get going and took the first couple of minutes to settle in. However, it looks like they’ve snapped out of that, as in the last two games, they’ve been red-hot and have caught their opponents off guard.
Related: Sweden Takes Down Finland in a Shootout in the 2026 World Juniors
In the quarterfinal game against Latvia, Anton Frondell scored within the first ten seconds of the puck being dropped. After that, Sweden knows it has taken the first step, and no matter what happens, they have that first goal on the scoreboard.
This was no different, as within the first 34 seconds, the first line struck again, as Linus Eriksson was working up the left wall and fired one in on Petteri Rimpinen. Rimpinen, who is one of the best goalies in the tournament, went to catch the puck with his glove, but it slipped off the top of it and into the net.
To start the second period, within the first minute and a half, Ivar Stenberg, who could be the first overall pick in June, scored a beautiful goal as he sniped the puck right between the Finnish defender’s legs and over the glove of Rimpinen. Stenberg looked like an NHL-caliber player all night long. In the gold medal game, those quick starts are going to be needed.
No Lucas Pettersson, No Problem
Sweden was without one of their best goal scorers and second-line winger Lucas Pettersson due to illness. There was a lot of doubt with that, as he has four goals so far in the tournament, with the fact that they were going up against one of the best goalies, and that he’s always in the correct spot on the ice. However, that left room for another Swede to fill the void, take that next man up mentality and make an impact.
Eddie Genborg did just that. Genborg filled in for Pettersson and was playing alongside Stenberg and Viggo Bjorck the whole game, two players projected to go in the first round of the 2026 Draft; Stenberg within the top five, maybe top three. Genborg looked like he belonged the whole night, and even had a beautiful goal. After Stenberg’s cross-ice attempt to Genborg was unsuccessful, he noticed that Rimpinen was struggling and was out of the crease, and when he was behind the net, he spun around and banked the puck off the post, off of Rimpinen, and into the net.
Genborg’s awareness was on point there, and he should be proud of the way he played. He’s an underrated piece on Sweden and should have way more goals than he currently does; he has had so many posts and opportunities this tournament.
Sweden Weathers the Storm, Wins in Shootout
The overtime period was mostly controlled by Finland. Finland won most of the faceoffs and therefore ruled in puck possession, but Sweden stood tall. The main story of overtime was Bjorck. He had four breakaways in the span of eight minutes and was robbed by Rimpinen all four times, whether it was the glove, pad, or blocker; it didn’t matter. Bjorck then committed a slashing penalty, but the Swedish penalty kill stood tall, and Love Harenstam made some incredible saves.
In the shootout, Sweden gave Bjorck yet another chance, and he was stopped again. Frondell, who ended up going three times, was robbed the first time with Rimpinen reaching all the way out with his right leg to make the stop. Afterwards, Matias Vanhanen scored, and Sweden, who didn’t trail the whole contest up until this point, was on their back foot. They went to their captain, and Jack Berglund, with a level head, scored on Sweden’s last chance, and Harenstam stopped Julius Mienttenen, and this shootout, after a whole 70 minutes of hockey, went to extra rounds.
Frondell, on his second chance, going to his backhand, attempting to tuck it in, managed to do a double doink; the puck bounced off the right post, rolled across the goal line, hit the left one, and stayed out. But the third time was the charm, as Frondell capitalized on his third opportunity and scored the game-winning goal.
Sweden played a complete team game and earned that win; they’ll have to continue this momentum into Monday night.
