Sweden Narrowly Defeats Team Germany to Advance to 2-0 at WJC

Sweden came into Tuesday's matchup with Germany fresh off a 11-0 rout of the Austrians just loaded with confidence. Once again, they are a favorite to take the gold medal at the World Juniors, and after losing to Team Finland in the semi-final game this past summer, they will no doubt have a chip on their shoulder.

The Germans open their tournament against a stiff, skilled Swedish group in a rather unfavorable draw. Then again, there will likely be no easy games for Germany in this tournament, which is nothing new. Still, Team Germany has no issue staring their opponent in the eye, regardless of any potential mismatch.

1st Period

The two sides each saw their share of puck possession, although Sweden noticeably had a step on their opponents. Through the opening ten minutes, the Swedes held a 6-1 shot advantage but no score to show for it.

Germany was able to generate some offenses, thanks to a pair of powerplays, but the Swedes took a 1-0 lead in the dying seconds of the opening frame, courtesy of Adam Engstrom:

2nd Period

Sweden maintained their dominant grip on the game but had a hard time breaking the German defense. No score came through 15 minutes of play in the middle frame, but the Swedes poured it onto German netminder Nikita Quapp.

Shots in the second period were 16-2 for Sweden through the 5:00 mark with Sweden firmly in charge. Boston Bruins top-prospect Fabian Lysell was awarded a penalty shot with under four minutes to play but was stopped by Quapp.

Team Germany was able to kill off a 5-on-3 after forward Quirin Bader and defender Adrian Klein took back-to-back hooking and roughing penalties with just over two minutes to play in the 2nd period. A huge boost for the Germans, who entered the final frame trailing 1-0.

Quapp - a Carolina Hurricanes draft pick - was the story of the game to this point. Stopping 31 of 32 Swedish shots, Quapp kept the Germans' hopes alive to this point.

3rd Period

While the Swedes continued to apply the pressure, Germany never broke formation. Earning two third period powerplays, the Germans really put the heat on late.

Swedish netminder Carl Lindbom (VGK) wasn't overly busy in this game, but he did everything he needed to, especially when the Germans started buzzing in the offensive zone. Which they did more than once. Quapp was the busier goalie, but both tenders had to be at their best, which made for highly entertaining hockey.

The Swedes held on to win 1-0 despite the late push from Germany. Shots favored Sweden by a total of 44-28.

Germany has a short turnaround, as they play Team Canada on Wednesday, who suffered a tough loss in their first game on Monday; Canada will have lots to prove in their second game.

Sweden has Wednesday off then returns to action on Thursday when they face off against Czechia, who defeated Canada 5-2 in their opening match.

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