I’ve got a whole new set of impressions from today’s games at the World Junior Summer Showcase set to hit the wire in 24:25 of playing time (Team USA White and Team USA Blue are still battling here at the World Junior Summer Showcase).
In the interim, Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted an article about Axel Sandin Pellikka’s performance in Sweden’s 3-2 win over Finland, in which ASP scored the game-winning goal:
Detroit fans got their first look at Sandin Pellikka’s offensive knack Wednesday when he scored a third-period game-winning goal in a 3-2 Sweden win over Finland at the World Junior Summer Showcase tournament.
“I just took the puck. I saw the defender and he kind of went to the boards,” Sandin Pellikka said. “So I kind of cut to the middle and it worked this time.”
The Red Wings like the way he reads plays and they appreciate his instincts. This is a young defenseman who posted 16 goals and 36 points in 31 junior games last season. He didn’t turn 18 until March and still had five points playing 22 more games in the Swedish Hockey League.
Was his goal against Sweden a read or an instinctual play? “It’s both,” he said. “I saw that defender — he thought I was going to go to the boards and he cheated a little bit. I saw the opportunity to take it inside.”
Continued; here’s the goal:
Axel Sandin Pellikka with a nice goal in today's #WJSS game against Finland #LGRW pic.twitter.com/y3GhHR6cWp
— IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) August 2, 2023
