Simon Edvinsson, Theodor Niederbach, William Wallinder and Team Sweden battled the plucky Latvians in Wednesday’s Quarterfinal match-up, with a spot in Friday’s Semifinal round on the line.
Sweden won 2-1 in what was a ridiculously tight game, with Latvia almost pulling off a tremendous upset because the Swedes mostly sleepwalked through this one, earning a win based upon mostly a great talent disparity as opposed to a lot of heart, hard work and grit–qualities that the Latvians displayed in spades
In Terms of Red Wings prospects playing in today’s game…The good news is that they were among the best of a mediocre lot.
Simon Edvinsson: Edvinsson, who recovered from food poisoning, played on the first Swedish defensive unit with defensive partner Calle Clang. He played only 18:43, with 2 shots and an even plus-minus rating, mostly because he doesn’t play on the Swedish power play, and the Swedes had a 5-minute major. Edvinsson made some mistakes from time to time, so he was not perfect, but his tremendous skating and offensive instincts were complemented by good defense and a subtly physical edge. His skating and positioning shined.
Theodor Niederbach: Niederbach centered the Swedes’ second line, with Oskar Olausson and Daniel Torgersson as his linemates. Niederbach kept up his nearly 60% faceoff win percentage and was tenacious on the forecheck, good on the backcheck, but he was on the ice for the 1-1 goal, so he finished at -1 with 2 shots in 17:52 played. He’s gotten better and better over the years, and he’s efficient as the Swedes’ second-line center;
William Wallinder: Wallinder worked on the 3rd defensive pair with captain Emil Andrae. He had an assist on the game-winning goal, got away with an interference penalty late in the game, and generally played very efficiently and well over the course of 14:56 played, finishing even with 1 shot.
In terms of the game’s narrative:
In the 1st period:
The Latvians looked to capitalize on their status as an emotionally-driven team that pulled off an upset in their last game;
Niederbach started the game, as did Edvinsson, and he blocked a shot and battled as the Latvians established possession and control, keying the breakout as the Swedes dumped and chased.
Edvinsson only took a 30-second shift, as did Grans, and Wallinder and Andrae came out as the Latvians pressed the pace of play, cycled, and Lavins ripped the first shot of the game off Wallstedt’s blocker 1:06 in.
The Latvians did indeed come out emotionally charged, and the Swedes were obviously more talented, but they started sleepily, and they were happy to play on the perimeter, in the neutral zone, and in their own zone.
Edvinsson keyed a rush himself before affording Niederbach’s line the puck, and things went nowhere;
The Swedes changed lines quickly, however, and Andrae and Wallinder were back out there in a hurry as the Swedes went 1-3-2-4 in terms of their lines.
Sweden got their first shot on goal 4 minutes into the 1st period.
A good thing and a bad thing about Edvinsson is that he’s a bit of a “wild horse”–he still pinches whenever he wants to, and he can put his defensive partner in a bind when he does so.
Sweden almost seemed too content to ride out the first 10 minutes’ worth of play as Wallinder gapped up well on a Latvian forward, and gave way to Edvinsson, who battled down low, skated to the front of the net, and chipped the puck diagonally to clear it out of the zone…
Wallinder made a good play in the offensive zone approximately 8:15 into the 1st to send a lateral pass to a teammate for a shot attempt;
Niederbach was winning his faceoffs;
Edvinsson got stripped of the puck trying to be a little too cute skating up the right wing half boards, but he keyed a Swedish rush thereafter;
Frankly: The Swedes are going with 25-35-second shifts to counter the Latvians’ energy, and all those short shifts seem to be doing is ruining the Swedes’ continuity on ice.
Sweden also almost gave up the 1st goal 10 minutes in, with Latvia buzzing in front of the Swedish net as they took a 6-2 shot lead by the 11-minute mark.
Frankly, despite some good play by the Wings’ representatives, the Swedes looked flatter than Ohio. Or Manitoba.
Edvinsson and Niederbach nearly converted on a smart set of plays to rush the puck deep and cycle in the offensive zone, and it was perhaps a sad commentary that Edvinsson was keying the Swedes’ offense.
Edvinsson was also doing too much himself. Helge Grans had a great opportunity to shoot to Edvinsson’s left off a faceoff win, and Edvinsson shot himself anyway. That was unnecessary.
Wallinder was making smart plays, at least…And on a bad Swedish offense, Niederbach was displaying a pulse.
Fabian Lysell was dumped and Ozolins headed to the box with 15:25 gone in the 1st, giving Sweden an important power play.
Niederbach started as a center on the PP and won a faceoff, but, instead, Andrae had to make a FANTASTIC stick check on a Latvian racing in alone shorthanded.
No Edvinsson on the power play. Wallinder obviously doesn’t play.
The Swedes did score first as Fabian Lysell wrapped the puck around the goal, missed, and the puck went to Isak Rosen, who roofed a puck over the prone Bruveris at 16:44. 1-0 Sweden.
Isak Rosen has the first goal of the game on the power play! #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/agmIWPXcAY— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 17, 2022
A wraparound attempt by Fabian Lysell finds its way to Isak Rosén and he makes no mistake to give Sweden a 1-0 lead!
🔗: https://t.co/rLtVqXex7kpic.twitter.com/ZHR8SeYF15— Elite Prospects (@eliteprospects) August 17, 2022
Wallinder has really improved in terms of consistency over the course of the tournament, as has Niederbach. Both are displaying more jam, grit and resolve. They’re not physical players, but they’ve been harder on the puck and harder to peel off said puck.
Edvinsson also learned his lesson to some extent, passing to Grans off a faceoff win, giving Sweden a shot on Bruveris that almost went in on the rebound by Daniel Ljungman.
As Craig Button of TSN noted, the Swedes also got away with two boarding minors, and the Latvians were getting away with heavy hits as well. The refs had a bus to catch.
So Sweden emerged from the 1st period down in terms of compete level and level of play, but up 1-0 because their power play was more talented than Latvia’s penalty-kill.
In the 2nd period:
The 2nd period began with the teams at even strength, and we were told that Theodor Niederbach has gone 5-for-6 in the game and 52-for-86 on faceoffs in the tournament.
Wallinder and Andrae started the 2nd with the Swedes’ first line, and Lysell and Olausson worked together;
Edvinsson got a shot off on Bruveris and he deked and dangled deep to try to cycle a puck out front, and he was bumped into the boards heavily by Lavins…
But instead of drawing a penalty, Edvinsson was called for tapping down a high puck bouncing down off the boards with a high stick.
The Swedes at least showed up for the 2nd period.
Thankfully for those who were worried about Lavins injuring Edvinsson, he came back out onto the ice quickly, some 3 minutes into the 2nd, and looked fine.
Andrae really smoked Girts Silkalns at the blueline;
Edvinsson and Niederbach worked well to nearly set up a Swede in front of Bruveris for a goal;
Edvinsson directed traffic in his own zone and worked with Grans to clear the zone and dump and chase;
6:00 into the 2nd, the Swedes were beginning to establish possession and control in the offensive zone, and they were owning the neutral zone with speedy transition play.
With 7:28 gone in the 2nd, Gustavs Ozolins blocked what would have been a Swedish goal as Wallinder and Andrae cycled with the Swedes’ third line, with Stjernborg sending a ripper off the Latvian defenseman.
I really like Niederbach’s compete level. He’s gotten in on puck battles and willed his way to wins and he’s doing a great job of being tenacious along the boards. A completely different player than he was a couple of years ago.
Edvinsson got caught deep after keying the rush himself, and dropping a lazy pass to Lysell, but Edvinsson also got back into his own zone, stayed on the ice and he and Grans worked very hard as the Latvians got their first shot on goal since the halfway point of the 1st period.
On a very long shift, Edvinsson and Grans were sharp as they could be given that they got caught out there for two minutes.
With about 6:35 left in the 2nd, Niederbach took a pass and decided that he was going to shoot it in himself off the wing, clanging the puck off the shoulder of Bruveris and out;
Edvinsson sat for a couple of minutes, and when he came back onto the ice, he gapped up very well, but chased the puck into the corner when he should have stayed toward the front of the net…
And at 14:53, his defensive partner, Helge Grans, headed to the penalty box for interference on Lavins, the Latvian sparkplug.
Niederbach and Wallinder were on the first PK unit, and Niederbach actually lost a faceoff, and the Latvians cycled, cycled more, got a shot off, and Niederbach pursued a Latvian defender to the point that the Latvian fell down.
Torgersson got tied up by Hodass, and there was no call on the Latvian defenseman;
Wallinder got caught out on a long shift, too, but his positioning made him look like he had super-human endurance. He was just spare and simple and easy.
Sweden killed the penalty because Leo Loof’s skate blocked a back-door goal by Daniels Andersons.
Edvinsson and Wallinder had a defensive shift together, and they did fairly well on their shift.
But Gustav Ozolins took a pass that got by Wallinder at the point, Ozolins chipped the puck on the net after walking laterally, and he tied the game 1-1 at 18:44.
Gustavs Ozolins ties it up late in the 2nd! #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/Tjbj4eTX3U— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 17, 2022
Gustavs Ozoliņš’ point shot finds a way through and Latvia has tied the game 1-1! #WorldJuniors
🔗: https://t.co/iZ125tzRifpic.twitter.com/N4mJe8YgM1— Elite Prospects (@eliteprospects) August 17, 2022
TIE GAME! Latvia evens the score 1-1 in the #WorldJuniors quarter-final against Sweden. Third period coming up! @lhf_lv @Trekronorse pic.twitter.com/6DEGlzQhUN— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) August 17, 2022
The pass from Dans Locmelis to the point was the one that got by Wallinder, who was worried about covering the routes to his own net, not the point pass. Niederbach was also in the slot, a little lost, and after the Latvians scored their goal, Niederbach was punched in the face.
The 2nd period ended with pushing and shoving in the Swedish end. It would have been nice to see the Swedes display some grit and determination on a team-wide basis between the whistles.
Shots were 16-11 after 2 periods of play.
In the 3rd period:
Niederbach and Wallinder started the 3rd period, and Niederbach won the opening draw.
He also came back to help Wallinder when Andrae got caught at the offensive blueline, shutting down a 3-on-2.
Martins Lavins, the Latvians’ heart-and-soul player, took an interference minor that was a check to Liam Ohgren’s head at 1:29. The play was called a major penalty and reviewed.
It was called a 5-minute major and Martins Lavins headed off the ice.
Sweden nearly surrendered a shorthanded breakaway only 15 seconds into the PP, but they covered up, and Lysell raced in and tried to jab the puck past Bruveris himself;
Ultimately Lysell got a lateral pass and was stopped by Bruveris in fine fashion.
Niederbach came out on the 2nd PP unit and worked the puck in, but the Latvians cleared the puck into their own bench;
3:00 into the 2nd, with 3:29 left in the 5-minute major, the Swedes were just too loosey-goosey, and they needed to simplify their attack.
Halfway through the major penalty, Sweden had a shot or two.
They were trying to pass the puck into the net, instead of shooting on Bruveris, and the Latvians were out-hustling Sweden.
Emil Andrae at least crashed the net but sent the puck wide, and rifled the puck to the right point, where no one was standing, giving Latvia a “free clear.”
Ultimately, the Swedish power play was lazy and unfocused, and they wouldn’t change up their personnel, so they got the same results, which were slim to nil.
Latvia killed the 5-minute major.
At even strength, Latvia obviously had a major advantage in terms of energy and enthusiasm after that PK.
Edvinsson was at least able to chase down an icing call with some gusto with 12:45 left in the 3rd.
I mean, at this point, is it bad if I just don’t want a Red Wings player to be implicated in the Latvians’ game-winner?
I mean, it’s grim out there for the Swedes, though they certainly have the talent to pull this one out of their collective butt.— George Malik (@georgemalik) August 17, 2022
8 minutes gone in the 3rd, shots stuck on 19-12, a 1-1 tie, and the game was just quiet.
Which is how the Latvians wanted it.
Wallinder and the Swedish MVP, Andrae, looked really good and crisp on defense. They were sharp.
The Swedes at least shifted out of neutral some 9 minutes into the 3rd period, displaying some sort of pulse, but the Latvians would grind Sweden into the boards in the offensive zone, and the Swedes wouldn’t get off the perimeter.
Latvia was icing the puck regularly, however, and that wasn’t helping them.
As a result, Emil Andrae ripped a point shot through traffic off a faceoff win and a lateral pass from Wallinder that Andrae was able to rip into traffic. The knuckleball shot hit the back of the net at 9:49, giving Sweden a 2-1 lead.
Emil Andrae breaks the tie for Sweden with 10 minutes left to play! #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/y5pOHNrjPe— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 17, 2022
Wallinder and Ljungman got the assists.
With 9:11 left, Niederbach won a draw to Edvinsson, who ripped a shot in on Bruveris, but he saw that one, and gloved it.
Then Edvinsson got another shot from Niederbach, which was blockered away by Bruveris;
Edvinsson came back into his own zone with Grans and helped clear the zone. The 30-second shift ended soon after, but Niederbach’s line got caught out late, and they had to muck the puck out to center.
Bruveris made a good shoulder stop on the next Swedish rush with just over 8 minutes remaining in regulation;
The Latvians did not despair, however, cycling and pushing pucks toward the net in the offensive zone, and their defensive play and transition games were good.
When Wallinder tripped a Latvian, the Latvian bench whistled as Bergmanis fell…Because Wallinder’s hold was a legit penalty.
With about 5:15 left, Edvinsson gapped up and stood up a Latvian defenseman at the Latvian blueline, and Edvinsson also pinched in at center ice, facilitating a play which would lead to a Swedish scoring chance with 4:57 left in the 3rd.
Wallinder ripped into a slapper that went wide, and he came back into his own zone to defuse a missed pass that the Latvians attempted to jump upon;
The Latvians were also more than willing to push, shove and punch after the whistle throughout the game, and the Swedes didn’t really show the same spirit.
Edvinsson and Grans at least bit down hard and ate the puck as the Latvians tried to capitalize on a missed clear where Edvinsson pushed the puck backward instead of forward;
The Latvians began to run out of time with 2:30 remaining, but they carried play, and Sweden was rope-a-doping their way up ice.
Edvinsson and Wallinder combined for a clear;
The 2-minute mark hit and Latvia raced in, with Edvinsson losing his stick (that happens a lot with Edvinsson), but Edvinsson and the Swedes recovered;
The Latvians backed into their own zone and behind their net without pressure, so it took until over 19 minutes gone in the 3rd before Bruveris came out with 45 seconds left in regulation, and the Swedes were able to chip and dump the puck out of play enough to squeak out a win.
FINAL (QF) | Sweden 🇸🇪 2, Latvia 🇱🇻 1
📊 https://t.co/gnMMukdGKx#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/Rv6H8pCm51— #WorldJuniors (@WorldJuniors) August 17, 2022
🇸🇪 @Trekronorse continues their quest for #WorldJuniors gold as they defeat Latvia 2-1 pic.twitter.com/79XrxFxam2— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) August 17, 2022
🇸🇪 Sweden defeats 🇱🇻 Latvia 2-1 final score to advance to the semis of the #WorldJuniors! pic.twitter.com/1l3rZn2Szc— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 17, 2022
SEMIFINALKLARA! Juniorkronorna vinner kvartsfinalen mot Lettland med 2-1. Emil Andrae gör det sista och avgörande målet från sin backposition och det första målet stod Isak Rosén för. Härligt, Sverige! 🇸🇪 #juniorkronorna #worldjuniors pic.twitter.com/jevBVUzZtJ— Tre Kronor (@Trekronorse) August 17, 2022
Update: Here are the game’s highlights:
