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Sweden back in business

7-2 win gives Tre Kronor first win

Published 06.05.2017 23:36 GMT+2 | Author John Sanful
Sweden back in business
COLOGNE, GERMANY - MAY 6: Sweden's Linus Omark #67 celebrates with Marcus Kruger #16 after scoring a second period goal against Germany's Thomas Greiss #1 during preliminary round action at the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/HHOF-IIHF Images)
After holding even at 2-2, Sweden scored five uncontested goals that turned a close game into a rout.

Sweden rebounded from their opening night loss with a commanding 7-2 win over Germany. Second period goals by Linus Omark and Jonas Brodin helped Sweden to a two goal lead that they would not relinquish. William Nylander has two goals and three points in the game. Captain Gabriel Landeskog had a goal and two assists. 

"I think everybody could see how good they were at the end," German forward Brooks Macek said. "We played a pretty good game in the first two periods. We had a good goalie and we just battled, so we held them at 2-2 but then they just showed how good they really are."

Despite the final score, this was not an easy game. Playing with early confidence, Germany matched their rivals to hold the game to a 2-2 tie before the game was put out of reach. Their confidence undoubtedly came as a result of last night’s win over the United States.

Greiss was spectacular over the first half of the game, keeping his team in it despite a flurry of activity by the Swedes in the first period. The majority of the offensive action occurred in Germany’s end of the ice. Moreover, for the first seven and a half minutes, Germany did not hit a shot on goal.

"We made mistakes in our own zone and you can't give them so much time," Macek said. "They are all pretty good players so if they get a little bit of room they will take it and score."

Sweden opened scoring when defenceman Oliver Ekman Larsson’s shot found the back of the net at 6:56. Ekman Larsson’s wrist shot appeared to be redirected by one of two German defenders in front. 

Germany rallied and finally generated some offence of their own, pulling even when Patrick Hager scored while using John Klingberg as a screen. Hager’s goal beat Viktor Fasth stick side at 16:14 of the first period. Dennis Seidenberg and Yasin Ehliz picked up assists.   

Sweden outshot Germany 22-5 in the period. It’s safe to say that had Greiss not been in net, Sweden would have done a lot more damage early on. Jonas Brodin and William Karlsson each led with four shots. 

In the second period, both teams traded power play goals. Victor Rask found the net with Moritz Muller in the penalty box. The goal came 0:23 into the period with the defensive pairing of Anton Stralman and Victor Hedman earning assists.

During this sequence when Sweden scored Elias Lindholm was injured and had to be helped off the ice. He would not return.

Five minutes later, Philip Gogulla answered back with a power play goal. Felix Schutz sent a shot on goal that was saved by Fasth but a big rebound found its way over to Gogulla who was alone and uncontested. He wasted no time in converting.  

The Swedes regained the lead when Marcus Kruger took possession of the puck and skated behind the Germany net. Kruger made a move to the slot where he got off a shot that was saved. While down on his knees, Kruger grabbed the rebound and sent the puck to the slot where Linus Omark jammed it home. 

With 2.5 seconds left in the second period, Sweden added another goal for good measure. Jonas Brodin scored off a pass from William Nylander to make it 4-2. 

"It was a tight game up until then," Nylander said. "They were battling back every time so those were important goals for sure."

In the third Sweden kept surging, adding three goals that drove Greiss to the bench and replaced by Danny aus den Birken. Two of those goals were scored by Nylander, which brought a smile to the face of his NHL coach, Mike Babcock, who was in attendance. 

"I just got a chance and tried to get it on the net and it went in, then the other was a great pass from Gabriel and I was able to get a shot off."

Despite the loss, Germany remained upbeat after the game and were given an ovation by their fams in attendance. Sweden also had significant representation in the stands as well. 

LANXESS arena boasted another sold out crowd of 18,673.

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