Swedish Goalie Jesper Wallstedt Takes Loss to USA Personally, Blames Himself
Losing is never easy. Team Sweden lost 3-2 to Team USA where they were badly outplayed for the majority of the game. Team USA broke out to a three-goal lead before Sweden got on the board, and the Swedes were chasing the play all night long.
USA's first two goals were identical. From each side of the net, Brett Berard (NYR) and Matt Coronato (CGY) each found a hole in Sweden's prized goaltender, Jesper Wallstedt (MIN), giving the U.S. a two-goal lead and all the momentum. Wallstedt post-game said he bore all the blame, he felt as if he let his team and his country down. Full quote:
Heavy words for a kid who got shelled for 41 shots only to surrender three goals, one of which came on the powerplay. And he didn't receive a ton of goal support, so no one one the outside can really pinpoint the blame on Wallstedt. But great leaders expect great things from themselves, and as the world's top goalie prospect he expects to win no matter who he faces.
Sweden did not have their best match against Team USA last night, but they still comfortably made their way into the quarterfinal round, where they will play Latvia to advance. Often times, when a team has a loss like the Swedes did last night, it galvanizes the group and is exactly the kind of wake-up call a team needs as they head into the elimination games. A team as talented as Sweden's this summer cannot be written off, especially with a motivated Wallstedt between the pipes.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Drew Helleson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Trevor Zegras | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Noel Acciari | - | - | - | |
| Mason Appleton | - | - | - | |
| Nicolas Aube-Kubel | - | - | - | |
| Morgan Barron | - | - | - | |
| Anthony Beauvillier | - | - | - | |
| Zach Benson | - | - | - | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||