Follow along with The Athletic as the United States takes on Sweden in the World Junior Championship gold medal game.
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How we got here: U.S. vs. Sweden, gold medal game
Today’s world juniors gold medal game, which begins at 1:30 p.m. ET and airs on NHL Network in the U.S. and TSN in Canada, will pit the U.S. against Sweden, which is the host country of the tournament.
Sweden defeated Czechia 5-2 on Thursday to advance to the gold medal game. They’ll be playing for just their third gold medal at the tournament, and first since 2012. They’ve never won gold on home ice.
USA advanced to the gold medal game with a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Finland. They’re in search of their sixth gold medal at the tournament, which would move them past a tie with the Finns for third-most (behind only Canada and Russia/the Soviet Union).
GO FURTHER
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That’s the second time this period an American forward has snuck behind this Swedish defence for a breakaway. Will Smith didn’t score on his. The ‘Ice Man’ does.
Team USA retakes the lead
USA takes the lead right back, and mercy what a goal by Isaac Howard. Backhand, five-hole, and it’s 2-1 USA.
Special moment for Otto Stenberg
Especially cool for Stenberg to get that goal because he’s playing at his home rink. Not only does he play at the Scandinavium for Frölunda in the SHL, but he grew up just north of Gothenburg in Stenungsund.
Jonathan Lekkerimaki (VAN) and Noah Ostlund (BUF) have gotten all the shine for the Swedes in this tournament, but 18-year-old Otto Stenberg (STL) has been great. Knows who he is, plays his game, and is consistent shift-to-shift. Nice to see him get one there. He’s a gamer.
There is a lot of standing. And clapping. And drumming. And chanting. And singing. And jumping.
Sweden ties it at 1-1
It’s an early second-period equalizer for Sweden, as Otto Stenberg, who’s had a great tournament, deflects a Mattias Havelid point shot past Augustine to tie this one at 1. How’s that crowd sounding, fellas?
The Lane Hutson-Ryan Chesley pair played over 9 minutes in the first period for team USA.
Bultman: One key I’ll be watching for Sweden the rest of the game
Can their power forwards impose themselves on the forecheck? Between Filip Bystedt, Liam Ohgren and Anton Wahlberg, the Swedes have the size and skill combo to do some damage down low. But what the USA’s blue line lacks in size, they make up for in skating, skill and smarts, and so far Sweden hasn’t been able to generate those extended possessions off the forecheck.
Bounce back performance from Seamus Casey
Seamus Casey had a tough start to the tournament but he’s been excellent in the medal round displaying his high-end skating and skill.
Team USA leads 1-0 late in the first period
That USA goal came off a delayed penalty, and it was delayed for a while. Impressive stuff by Team USA to hold onto that — they had to regroup multiple times, but they stayed patient, and it paid off with a first-period lead over the hosts
Will Smith has come up big in the medal round for the Americans
Heck of a play by Will Smith (SJS) to see Gabe Perreault there, allow him to get open, and then hit him with the perfect slap-pass.
Team USA strikes first
Will Smith with an incredible pass leads to USA’s first goal. This has been Smith best period of the tournament.
Sweden’s dynamoc duo
No surprise that the best early looks of the game have all come from the Swedish duo of Jonathan Lekkerimaki (VAN) and Noah Ostlund (BUF). An Ostlund rebound off of a Lekkerimaki shot. A mad scramble at the net. Ostlund off the rush on the power play.
Those two have been sensational in this tournament.
Still scoreless in the first period
Oliver Moore has had some shaky moments in the first period, so we see Gavin Hayes get some shifts after not playing the medal round so far.
One thing you have to love about Swedish hockey, even if there’s no chance it ever makes its way to North America: the Power Break. Rather than a bunch of commercial breaks throughout a period, there’s one break right in the middle to pay all the bills. It’d never play over here, but it makes for a great watch!
The game feels different when this degree of junior talent is playing for this type of stakes. The crowd hangs on every turnover. Every puck battle feels massive.
A big opportunity for Sweden
Sweden going to get the game’s first big opportunity on the power play, as Drew Fortescue takes an early high-sticking penalty. And it hurts USA extra that it’s Fortescue headed to the box, as he’s one of the players they count on to be a defensive stopper on a relatively small, offensive-minded blue line.
What went wrong for Canada?
Canada’s loss could be summarized by losing the goaltending battle. Arizona prospect Michael Hrabal was excellent. He made 28 saves and when Canada was pressing throughout the second half of the game he made a lot of tough stops as the 6-foot-6, athletic netminder proved quite difficult to bear. Rousseau had some good moments, including a penalty shot save in the first, but a soft second goal sank the Canadians.
Canada also struggled from a lack of depth. Projected first overall pick in 2024, Macklin Celebrini had a strong tournament, but overall their top six listed forwards did not show up and make an impact in the tough games in this tournament. Those were Jordan Dumais (Columbus Blue Jackets), Conor Geekie (Arizona Coyotes) Fraser Minten (Toronto Maple Leafs), Poitras (Boston Bruins), and Savoie (Buffalo Sabres). Between the round-robin games between Finland and Sweden, and then the quarterfinals, those five players totaled one goal and three points, and two of those points came on an empty net goal against Finland.
Canada also had to ride their top pairing of Denton Mateychuk and Lamoureux way too much as they could not get reliable minutes from many other blue liners.
GO FURTHER
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Sweden has iced practically the exact same lines D pairings and PP units the entire tournament leading into today’s game. Coach Magnus Havelid has a lot of belief in the structure they’ve set up.
Who are the best NHL prospects playing at the 2024 world juniors?
Let’s give NHL fans an idea of the top prospects in this year’s tournament.
This is not a ranking of who we expect to be the top contributors when the tournament starts. Rather, this is a straight ranking of players based on their NHL projections, regardless of their expected roles at the tournament.
Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler ranked the player pool with this perspective and took an average of their rankings to generate a top 25 NHL prospects list for the upcoming world juniors.
GO FURTHER
Who are the best NHL prospects playing at the 2024 world juniors? Ranking the top 25