Sweden entered Day 4 of preliminary round play of the 2025 World Junior Championship looking like one of the strongest teams in the tournament. They took on a winless Switzerland team as they looked to move to 3-0. The Swiss offered stiff competition, but Sweden proved too much for them, pulling off a 7-5 win.
Game Recap
If you were to go off the scoreboard, you would think Sweden dominated the first 20 minutes of play, but in reality, Switzerland kept them on their heels with their strong play. Sweden was outshot in the period, 11-5, but the most significant difference was that they cashed in on the chances they had. Switzerland failed to score on their lone power play of the period, and then Sweden scored on their first power play of the game, thanks to Tom Willander scoring from the point after getting a pass from Axel Sandin Pellikka to put the Swedes up early on. The Swiss were rewarded with their strong play with a goal of their own off the stick of Kimo Gruber after making a strong move at the blue line and throwing the puck toward Sweden netminder Melker Thelin that deflected off defenseman Theo Lindstein before going in.
The tie game was short-lived as Sweden came back quickly to take the lead once again, with Zeb Forsfjall cashing in less than a minute after the Swiss tied the game. He caught a quick pass from behind the Swiss net from Isac Hedqvist to beat Elijah Neuenschwander to put Sweden back ahead, 2-1. The Swedish power play was again on display with just under three minutes left in the period, with Otto Stenberg tallying his first goal of the tournament to make it a 3-1 Sweden lead after 20 minutes.
Sweden added three more goals in the second period, spearheaded by their power play. Christian Kirsch replaced Neuenschwander to begin the period for the Swiss. David Granberg kicked things off for Sweden, scoring on a shot that Kirsch would certainly want back after seeing Granberg’s shot squeak through him to give Sweden a 4-1 lead. Willander added his second power play goal to push Sweden’s lead to 5-1 on a strong wrist shot from his point spot. 2025 NHL Draft prospect Victor Eklund got his first goal of the tournament on the power play with just over ten seconds remaining in the middle frame. An original shot from Sandin Pellikka found its way behind Kirsch, and Eklund ended up getting to the loose puck and tapping it home to give Sweden a 6-1 lead on the scoreboard after 40 minutes of play. They also held a 24-18 lead in shots.
Related: Guide to the 2025 World Junior Championship
The final 20 minutes saw plenty of power play action. Gruber brought the Swiss within four with an early power play goal from the point after showing good patience with the puck on his stick. The score would stay 6-2 until Sandin Pellikka added his power play goal to push the score to 7-2 Sweden. The Swiss would not go away, though, adding their second power play goal of the period with Leo Braillard beating Thelin with a wrist shot from the top of the circle to make it 7-3 just over halfway through the period. Poor discipline by Sweden helped keep Switzerland in the game, as they would add another power play goal with just over five minutes left by Andro Kaderli to close the gap even more at 7-4. One more goal on the man-advantage late for the Swiss from Braillard again would be the closest they would come to making the comeback as the game ended in a 7-5 win for Sweden.
Both teams return to action on Dec. 31, with Sweden taking on Czechia and Switzerland taking on Kazakhstan.
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