Sweden wins group A

Sweden won Group A at the IIHF World U20 Championship after a solid 5-0 win against Denmark today. Adrian Kempe gave Sweden the lead already after 13 seconds when he made an individual effort and scored with a wrist shot. The game was all about Sweden and Felix Sandström only needed 8 saves for the shutout. Gustav Forsling, Oskar Lindblom, William Lagesson and Aleander Nylander scored the other goals.

Sweden will play Slovakia in the quarter final since Slovakia lost to Finland and will finish in fourth place in Group B. Slovakia shocked Finland by taking a 2-0 lead after goals by Sukel and Bondra. Finland got one back by Sebastian Aho but was still trailing at the end of the first. In the second period Finland took over more of the momentum and turned the game around after goals by Saarela and Hintz. In the third period the numbers rushed away and Finland won 8-3. Jesse Puljujärvi had one goal and three assists and leads the tournament in points.

In the other game in Group A, USA thrashed Switzerland 10-1. After forcing Canada to a shootout yesterday it seemed like Switzerland had run out of energy and after six goals within nine minutes the score was 6-0 already after 16 minutes. Auston Matthews was the best player of the game with two goals and two assists.

In Group B the Czechs are still second behind Russia after a 5-3 win against Belarus. Belarus lost all of their round robin games and will play Switzerland in the relegation round. Belarus had a 3-2 lead with 8 minutes to go but the Czechs managed to turn things around for a win. First Jiri Smejkal tied it with a goal from close range and just two minutes later Radek Vesely scored the game winner when he skated in from the right wing and scored with a wrist shot. An empty net goal sealed the win for the Czechs.

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