Team Sweden kicked off their 2024 World Junior Championship with a dominant win against Latvia as they began the hunt for their first gold medal since 2012 and just their third in tournament history. This Swedish team is widely regarded as one of the strongest teams at the 2024 WJC, with plenty of experience and depth to put to use on home ice. Their skill was on full display in their first meaningful game of the competition, as a good majority of the Swedish team collected their first points of the tournament.
Settled In, Settled Down, Got Rolling
The Swedish players know that they are a favourite in this tournament, and they have the skill required to make a serious run at that elusive gold medal. But it is not unheard of for a skilled team to walk into their first game of the tournament a little over-confident and get upset by a weaker team. That looked like it could have been the case in this game, as a dangerous hit resulted in a penalty to top-pairing defenseman Elias Salomonsson just 25 seconds into the game.
The Winnipeg Jets’ second-round pick was removed from the game for the boarding call and handed Latvia a five-minute power play — a perfect opportunity for Latvia to build momentum early. Thankfully, Sweden settled down, and their defense held firm, restricting the Latvians to just four shots on goal, all of which their goaltender Hugo Hävelid kept out.
Related: 2024 Guide to the World Junior Championship
Sweden’s massive five-minute kill helped bring the team into the game, and their skill became obvious once the game returned to even strength. They converted dominant puck possession and offensive zone time into a pair of power plays, from which they managed to collect a couple of goals. Both plays put the Swede’s strong blue line on display, with the first coming off a great shot from Axel Sandin-Pellikka, tipped home by Anton Wahlberg, and the second was slammed home by Filip Bystedt (later named player of the game) off a great feed from Mattias Hävelid. Bystedt was critical to Sweden’s offense last year, and he looks like he will resume that strong play this year.
Sweden Produced Strong Offensive Play
It is widely known that the Swedish teams in international competition tend to lean heavily on strong defensive play, and their offense can suffer as a result. While there were some very obvious tendencies to lean towards safer play once they were up in the game, they had no issues in pushing into the offensive zone with speed and drawing penalties from a very frustrated Latvian team. Once they had the man advantage, they had no issues getting players like Bystedt or Jonathan Lekkerimäki, both of whom had two goals, open to add to their lead.
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Even during Latvia’s power plays in the second and third periods, the pure skill gap in some of the matchups meant that not only were the Swedish players able to break up plays and limit Latvia’s chances to a couple low-danger shots, but they were able to intercept plays and force Latvia back into their own zone to defend. This style of play may not be feasible against the more high-powered opponents in the upcoming games, but it does help to feed their confidence and get them into a positive mindset.
Maintain the Momentum
The win over Latvia is not much of a surprise, but it is a perfect opportunity to walk into the rest of the tournament with an abundance of momentum helping them along. So often, in short tournaments such as these, a single strong performance that gives a team momentum can be a huge difference-maker. If Sweden stumbled out of the gate against Latvia and barely squeezed a win out of a game that should be a sure thing, it could plant seeds of doubt for the rest of the tournament. Instead, they dominated in every aspect, got their feet under them, and got moving in the right direction.
They now know that the players and systems they have in place are efficient and effective. So, moving forward, they should only have to make minor adjustments to further improve on the minor details instead of having to make any wholesale changes to personnel or play style. Allowing the players to become familiar with their linemates’ tendencies and adjust to the way they are expected to play in a game such as this one is much more effective than trying to do so against a tougher opponent like Canada or Finland.
Mostly Favorable Schedule Ahead for Sweden
Sweden now has a day to rest and watch their future opponents before they take on Germany on Dec. 28. Germany has yet to play their first game of the tournament, but based on pre-tournament play, Sweden should again have the upper hand. That should give them a perfect opportunity to get themselves fully set, and they will need it because they are then right back at it the next night with a much more difficult opponent in Team Canada. It might still be early, but Team Sweden is definitely looking like the top contender everyone thought they would be this year.
