Sweden Beats Canada 8-4 in World Junior Summer Showcase

On Friday, August 1, the World Junior Summer Showcase was down to its final two days of games. The first game was between Canada and Sweden, with Finland and USA to follow. Evan Gardner was in net for Canada, but in the third period they switched to Joshua Ravensbergen, while Love Harenstam was in net for Sweden.

Related: 3 Takeaways From Day 4 of Games at World Juniors Summer Showcase

It was another hard-fought battle from the start, but Sweden got the early jump and Canada had to fight back. Sweden added four more goals to Canada’s one in the second period and left Canada with a big hill to climb. Sweden continued to add to their score with a power-play goal to make it a five-goal lead in the third. Canada tried to fight back but fell 8-4.

Game Recap

The first period started with a lot of back-and-forth action, as most of the games in this showcase have. However, Sweden found the back of the net first with a goal from Eric Nilson to make it 1-0. The assists went to Alexander Zetterberg and Viggo Nordlund. Sweden carried the momentum as they added another goal just over a minute later to make it 2-0. 

The goal was scored by Lucas Pettersson. Felix Öhrqvist and Jack Berglund assisted him. Canada responded with just over three minutes left in the first. The goal was scored by Cole Reschny to make it 2-1. He was assisted by Ben Kindel and Sacha Boisvert, to end the period. 

The second period had a bit more action as there were five goals scored; four from Sweden and one from Canada. The first goal was scored by Eddie Genborg, he was assisted by Sascha Boumedienne and Wilson Björck to make it 3-1. The momentum continued in Sweden’s direction with a goal from Liam Danielsson. The lone assist went to Berglund, his second of the game, and it was 4-1 in favor of Sweden. 

The next goal was scored by Sweden’s Victor Johansson, and Berglund tallied the lone assist for his third of the afternoon. In the final minutes of the second period, Canada’s Brady Martin scored to make it 5-2. He was assisted by Terik Parascak. It didn’t last as Sweden added one more before the buzzer to make it 6-2. The goal was scored by Nilson, his second of the game, and the assists went to Genborg and Sahlin-Wallenius to end the period. 

Sweden scored again to open the third period, the goal was recorded by Melvin Fernström to make it 7-2. He was assisted by Valter Lindberg and Danielsson. Canada responded less than a minute later with a goal by Cayden Lindstrom. Malcolm Spence registered the lone assist and made it a 7-3 game. However, Sweden’s Wilson Björck answered, unassisted, in the final six minutes of the game to extend Sweden’s lead to 8-3. Canada added one final goal by Michael Hage. He was assisted by Boisvert to end the game 8-4.

Both teams will be back in action on the final day of the showcase, tomorrow, Saturday, August 2. The two Nordic countries, Sweden and Finland, will be the first game, while the United States and Canada will follow to wrap up the week.