Sweden Shuts Out Russian Offense for 2-1 Win

It didn't have a lot of goals, but Sweden won't complain after defeating Russia 2-1 in their first game of the World Cup of Hockey.

When best-on-best hockey is concerned, Russia has won all 12 times, but Sweden was desperate to change that. They were hit with a tough blow before the game started, with the announcement that goaltender Henrik Lundqvist would miss the game with the flu. In came Jakob Markstrom, who was forced to make a couple of big saves early in the contest to get things started. 

The opening period was a physical contest between two teams that truly don't like each other. Each team roughed it up at points while making a couple of solid offensive chances around the net. It did take until the midway point of the second, however, for one of the teams to finally penetrate the goal. With Vladimir Shipachyov in the box for hooking Daniel Sedin, Gabriel Landeskog slapped a 128 km/h shot past Sergei Bobrovsky just four seconds later, using a screen by Patric Hornqvist to make it 1-0.

Then, two minutes later, Victor Hedman took a pass in the slot from Carl Hagelin before one-timing it towards the net. It wasn't the best shot, but it was still too much for Bobrovsky, who allowed his second goal in a short stint to give Sweden the 2-0 advantage. 

Heading into the final minute, it looked like Sweden had safely finished the game off with the shutout. That wasn't the case. With 33 seconds left, Alex Ovechkin took a wicked wrister that Jakob Markstrom couldn't stop, giving Russia momentum heading into the dying seconds of the contest. Unfortunately for the Russian faithful, it wasn't enough to turn the tide. It did get close, however, after Ovechkin deflected the puck in again with just seven seconds remaining in the game. After a quick review, it was declared that the puck never touched his stick, and the game was decided at that moment for Sweden.

Ovechkin said afterwards that he thought the puck touched off his stick, but hadn't seen the replay. He also acknowledged that Russia has a lot of work to do moving forward.

"We see it's not going to work. We need to change," Ovechkin said following the game.

When asked after the game who Sweden would use for the rest of the way, coach Rickard Grönborg had not made his decision. But Daniel Sedin believed in what fellow Vancouver Canucks teammate Markstrom could do in the net.

"He always talks about wanting the chance, he wants to be the guy," said Sedin. "That’s his mindset."

Markstrom, on the other hand, was quick to credit Sweden's strong defensive effort for the victory.

"What was working the best was my defencemen," said Markstrom. "That part of my game was unbelievable."

Sweden will look to catapult to the semi-finals with a meeting against Finland on Tuesday, a 3:00 PM start. Russia won't get a day off, instead meeting with North America at 8:00 PM on Monday night.

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