Sweden Shuts Out Germany After Scoring on First Shot

Sweden needed just one goal early in the game to defeat Germany 1-0 to stay perfect at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

It took just one shot for Sweden to put themselves on the board. At exactly 2:00, former NHLer Viktor Stalberg broke in all alone and beat Timo Pelmier with a quick wrist shot, putting the Tre Kronor ahead early on.

The game became a goaltending battle after that, with neither Pelmier or Jhonas Enroth making a mistake in a low-scoring affair. Enroth made 19 stops in the first 40 minutes of play, making a couple of big pad saves in an attempt to keep his shutout alive. At the other end, Pelmier also had 19 saves after two stanzas, making a couple big saves on the likes of Linus Omark and Joel Lundqvist.

Rasmus Dahlin's usage was a big question heading into the tournament, and after sitting out the opening game against Norway, it was a storyline worth following in his first official game in a major men's tournament. He was the seventh defenceman for Sweden, earning an average of three shifts a period in a limited role for Sweden.

Both teams have just one more game left to play in Group C action, but both are the most important games of the tournament for each nation. Sweden will meet up with Finland on Sunday, a match-up that always sees intense battles between the two Scandinavian nations. Germany will challenge Norway that same day, with both teams looking to secure their first victories of the tournament before heading to the qualification round.

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