Sweden scored five goals in the first period and coasted the rest of the way en route to an 8-1 victory over an overmatched Kazakhstan squad.
Kazakhstan returned to the top level of the World Junior Championship when they won the Division 1 Group A tournament in 2024. Even with Ottawa Senators’ goaltending prospect Vladimir Nikitin in the net, Kazakhstan was no match for the superior Swedes. They last competed in the elite division in 2020 in Czechia. Kazakhstan was outshot 52-16 in its TD Place Arena opener.
Anton Wahlberg scored twice while picking up two assists and joined seven other Swedish scorers in their victory.
Anton Wahlberg fires home his second of the game on the power-play to give Sweden a 6-0 lead.#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/NYMxaDTI0R
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 27, 2024
Victor Eklund, a potential top-10 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, scored his first World Junior goal at 5:53 as the 18-year-old forward deflected Tom Willander’s shot past Nikitin.
The Ottawa fans cheered mightily for the Kazakhs when they finally broke Swedish goalie Marcus Gidlof’s shutout bid with 2:32 left in the second period. Nikita Sitnikov, after some nifty stickhandling in the corner, found an unguarded Artur Gross in front, who then backhanded in his own rebound.
Kazakhstan will return to action on Saturday when they face Czechia in a 1:00 p.m. EST contest. Sweden will have a day off before facing Switzerland on Sunday.
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