Team USA celebrates a goal during its 5-3 win over Sweden on Saturday night.
photo: Micheline Veluvolu/IIHF
Too often, a battle of heavyweight hockey teams doesn’t live up to the hype.
But Saturday night’s game between the top two teams in Group B lived up to the bill … and then some.
This one had it all – lead changes, beautiful goals, outstanding saves, and just a lot of back-and-forth speed and skill.
In the end, the United States overcame 2-1 and 3-2 deficits to beat Sweden 6-3 and clinch first place in Group B.
Sweden led 2-1 after the first and 3-2 midway through the second before the Americans took over the game. Mikey Berchild and Cullen Potter scored 43 seconds apart late in the second and Team USA took a 4-3 lead into the third period.
Defenceman Drew Schock got the insurance marker 7:28 into the third when he jumped up into the play and re-directed a pass from Jacob Kvasnicka, who had a goal and two assists for USA. The Americans added a late empty-netter by Teddy Mutryn.
"We were just relentless," said Potter. "We were down in the beginning but we just stuck with it, stuck to our plan and came up victorious."
Potter has been all over the ice in the Americans' first three games. It's hard to believe his goal in this game - which came via a faceoff win that Potter made no mistake with - was his first of the tournament. You can bet we'll hear his name more as the importance of the games grows.
"Just playing with speed and competitiveness, I think that’s the strong suit of my game," said Potter, the son of American female hockey legend Jenny. "When I’m playing my A game, I can make a big difference by stealing pucks and making plays."
The Swedes didn’t go away quietly after Schock's goal and forced USA goaltender Patrick Quinlan to make several great saves in the final frame. Quinlan’s best save came when he flashed the glove and absolutely robbed Jakob Ihs Wozniak’s shot from the slot. He stopped 25 of 28 shots he faced for the win, with Sweden's Love making 36 saves on 41 shots in a losing cause.
USA moves to a perfect 3-0 with the win and Sweden drops to two wins and a loss, good for second place in the group.
The Swedes started the scoring with their strong forecheck in the first. Tre Kronor pressured the Americans in their own end, forced a turnover and Filip Ekberg got the puck in the slot and made no mistake in beating Quinlan.
"We didn’t get the result that we wanted," said Anton Frondell, who joined the Swedes just in time for this game. "They played good at the end of the game and were better at scoring this game. But we had a good start, we were up a goal. We had a good opportunity to win the game."
The Swedes went ahead 2-0 when Ivar Stenberg made a strong move off the half wall and skated towards the net. His wrist shot came from a tough angle but went far post and beat Quinlan above the glove.
The Americans answered a few minutes later with a pretty tic-tac-toe play that saw Will Horcoff send the puck to Donny Bracco, who slid it cross-crease to Will Moore for a one-timer that beat Love Harenstam.
The Americans tied it 2-2 in the second off a Sweden own-goal that was credited to Kvasnicka but Sweden re-took the lead on a dash of speed by Stenberg, who scored on a breakaway. That set the stage for the two quick strikes by Berchild and Potter.
Team USA is the all-time gold medal leader at this event with 11 and is trying to overcome last year's heartbreaking championship loss to Canada. Sweden won this tournament in 2019 and 2022 and is looking for three championships in six years.
Both teams wrap up their preliminary rounds on Monday, with Sweden facing Czechia and USA taking on Germany. Sweden needs at least one point to lock up second in the group. A regulation win by Czechia would see it finish second and Sweden third.
But Saturday night’s game between the top two teams in Group B lived up to the bill … and then some.
This one had it all – lead changes, beautiful goals, outstanding saves, and just a lot of back-and-forth speed and skill.
In the end, the United States overcame 2-1 and 3-2 deficits to beat Sweden 6-3 and clinch first place in Group B.
Sweden led 2-1 after the first and 3-2 midway through the second before the Americans took over the game. Mikey Berchild and Cullen Potter scored 43 seconds apart late in the second and Team USA took a 4-3 lead into the third period.
Defenceman Drew Schock got the insurance marker 7:28 into the third when he jumped up into the play and re-directed a pass from Jacob Kvasnicka, who had a goal and two assists for USA. The Americans added a late empty-netter by Teddy Mutryn.
"We were just relentless," said Potter. "We were down in the beginning but we just stuck with it, stuck to our plan and came up victorious."
Potter has been all over the ice in the Americans' first three games. It's hard to believe his goal in this game - which came via a faceoff win that Potter made no mistake with - was his first of the tournament. You can bet we'll hear his name more as the importance of the games grows.
"Just playing with speed and competitiveness, I think that’s the strong suit of my game," said Potter, the son of American female hockey legend Jenny. "When I’m playing my A game, I can make a big difference by stealing pucks and making plays."
The Swedes didn’t go away quietly after Schock's goal and forced USA goaltender Patrick Quinlan to make several great saves in the final frame. Quinlan’s best save came when he flashed the glove and absolutely robbed Jakob Ihs Wozniak’s shot from the slot. He stopped 25 of 28 shots he faced for the win, with Sweden's Love making 36 saves on 41 shots in a losing cause.
USA moves to a perfect 3-0 with the win and Sweden drops to two wins and a loss, good for second place in the group.
The Swedes started the scoring with their strong forecheck in the first. Tre Kronor pressured the Americans in their own end, forced a turnover and Filip Ekberg got the puck in the slot and made no mistake in beating Quinlan.
"We didn’t get the result that we wanted," said Anton Frondell, who joined the Swedes just in time for this game. "They played good at the end of the game and were better at scoring this game. But we had a good start, we were up a goal. We had a good opportunity to win the game."
The Swedes went ahead 2-0 when Ivar Stenberg made a strong move off the half wall and skated towards the net. His wrist shot came from a tough angle but went far post and beat Quinlan above the glove.
The Americans answered a few minutes later with a pretty tic-tac-toe play that saw Will Horcoff send the puck to Donny Bracco, who slid it cross-crease to Will Moore for a one-timer that beat Love Harenstam.
The Americans tied it 2-2 in the second off a Sweden own-goal that was credited to Kvasnicka but Sweden re-took the lead on a dash of speed by Stenberg, who scored on a breakaway. That set the stage for the two quick strikes by Berchild and Potter.
Team USA is the all-time gold medal leader at this event with 11 and is trying to overcome last year's heartbreaking championship loss to Canada. Sweden won this tournament in 2019 and 2022 and is looking for three championships in six years.
Both teams wrap up their preliminary rounds on Monday, with Sweden facing Czechia and USA taking on Germany. Sweden needs at least one point to lock up second in the group. A regulation win by Czechia would see it finish second and Sweden third.
United States vs Sweden - 2025 IIHF U18 Men's World Championship
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