photo: Matt Zambonin/IIHF
Sweden got a pair of goals from defenders in the second period to erase a 1-0 deficit en route to a 5-2 victory over Slovakia in the first game of the 2025 World Junior Championship in Ottawa. Captain and blueliner Axel Sandin Pellikka led the attack, scoring three goals and assisting on another in the impressive win.
Last year’s hosts and silver medallists had to fight tooth and nail for the win, their 7th in a row against the Slovaks, who last beat Sweden in U20 play nearly a decade ago. The victors doubled the shots against Slovakia, 34-17.
"We started defending more after we scored," suggested Dalibor Dvorsky, who got the opening goal. "We have to keep pushing, shooting at the net, and not back off. We all know Sweden is a team with a lot of skill, but, honestly, so are we. We have to improve after this game."
"We have a lot of good defencemen who like to play with the puck, so it's fun that we got some goals from there," said Sandin Pellikka. "We played a good game overall, so we're happy. We played with patience. We kept our cool. We had a lot of chances and knew pucks were going to go in soon enough, and they did."
Despite being outplayed for much of the opening period, Slovakia scored the only goal, that during a four-on-four. Captain Dvorsky’s shot through a screen beat goalie Melker Thelin to the far side at 11:53. It was Dvorsky’s sixth career goal at the World Juniors in 17 games spread out over five tournaments (starting with the 21/22 event which was cancelled because of a covid-19 outbreak).
Slovakia had a great chance to double their lead early in the second, but after controlling a bouncing puck in front, Peter Cisar couldn’t beat Thelin. A few minutes later, Sweden tied the game thanks to a nice play by Sandin Pellikka who narrowly kept the puck onside at the Slovakia blue line. He fed it to Rasmus Bergqvist, and he snapped a quick shot under the glove of Samuel Urban.
The Swedes took the lead at 17:43 on a power play. Sandin Pellikka wired a one-timer past the lunging Urban to give his team a 2-1 lead.
Sandin Pellikka took a penalty early in the third that his teammates killed off, and moments later he added to Sweden's tally, ripping a shot over the shoulder of Urban, who was going down before the puck left Sadin Pellikka's stick.
The captain completed his hat trick later in the period with another hard shot, high, and Linus Eriksson padded the score witha fifth goal at 15:29 off the rush. Daniel Jencko finished the scoring with a late power-play goal to make it a 5-2 game at 18:35.
"We never give up," Dvorsky added. "We have a great group of guys. We're all friends. We keep battling. We have a lot of skill and hard-working guys. We're a good team, so we have to learn from our mistakes and move on."
Last year’s hosts and silver medallists had to fight tooth and nail for the win, their 7th in a row against the Slovaks, who last beat Sweden in U20 play nearly a decade ago. The victors doubled the shots against Slovakia, 34-17.
"We started defending more after we scored," suggested Dalibor Dvorsky, who got the opening goal. "We have to keep pushing, shooting at the net, and not back off. We all know Sweden is a team with a lot of skill, but, honestly, so are we. We have to improve after this game."
"We have a lot of good defencemen who like to play with the puck, so it's fun that we got some goals from there," said Sandin Pellikka. "We played a good game overall, so we're happy. We played with patience. We kept our cool. We had a lot of chances and knew pucks were going to go in soon enough, and they did."
Despite being outplayed for much of the opening period, Slovakia scored the only goal, that during a four-on-four. Captain Dvorsky’s shot through a screen beat goalie Melker Thelin to the far side at 11:53. It was Dvorsky’s sixth career goal at the World Juniors in 17 games spread out over five tournaments (starting with the 21/22 event which was cancelled because of a covid-19 outbreak).
Slovakia had a great chance to double their lead early in the second, but after controlling a bouncing puck in front, Peter Cisar couldn’t beat Thelin. A few minutes later, Sweden tied the game thanks to a nice play by Sandin Pellikka who narrowly kept the puck onside at the Slovakia blue line. He fed it to Rasmus Bergqvist, and he snapped a quick shot under the glove of Samuel Urban.
The Swedes took the lead at 17:43 on a power play. Sandin Pellikka wired a one-timer past the lunging Urban to give his team a 2-1 lead.
Sandin Pellikka took a penalty early in the third that his teammates killed off, and moments later he added to Sweden's tally, ripping a shot over the shoulder of Urban, who was going down before the puck left Sadin Pellikka's stick.
The captain completed his hat trick later in the period with another hard shot, high, and Linus Eriksson padded the score witha fifth goal at 15:29 off the rush. Daniel Jencko finished the scoring with a late power-play goal to make it a 5-2 game at 18:35.
"We never give up," Dvorsky added. "We have a great group of guys. We're all friends. We keep battling. We have a lot of skill and hard-working guys. We're a good team, so we have to learn from our mistakes and move on."
Slovakia vs Sweden - 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship
OF