Sweden Scores Four Early in 5-1 Win Over Canada

A powerful first period effort from Sweden meant that they would defeat Team Canada by a score of 5-1 at the National Junior Evaluation Camp in Plymouth, Michigan.

Canada couldn't have struggled anymore in the first period. It took just 1:58 to start the game for Linus Olund to put the puck in the net first, using a screen in front of Philadelphia Flyers goalie prospect Carter Hart to give Sweden the 1-0 lead earlier.

At the 4:30 mark of the first period, Canada tied the game up in what looked like would be a back and forth contest. Cal Foote made a very good play to wait before sending a slap pass towards the net, only to have Mathieu Joseph tip it past another Flyers goalie prospect, Felix Sandstrom, to knot the game up at two apiece.

Just under a minute later, Sweden reclaimed the lead. It was a beautiful passing play that saw Jonathan Dahlen finish off a great play between Jonathan Davidsson and Joel Eriksson Ek with a nice wrist shot on an open cage.

Canada's, and Hart's, period didn't get much better. At the 11:16 mark, Eriksson Ek took advantage of Hart, who took the bait on the play, before sending the puck over Hart's left shoulder and in for the 3-1 goal. Then, two minutes after that, Marcus Davidsson's point shot soared over everyone and past the Canadian netminder for the 4-1 lead, an advantage that would knock Canada seemingly out of the game.

The early first period effort by Sweden gave the impression that the game would have well-contested, exciting action for the final 40 minutes. That was not the case, as neither team really made much of an offensive effort. Canada pulled Zachary Sarchenko, who took over for Hart midway through the game, with about three minutes to go in an attempt to create more offense. Unfortunately for them, an empty netter by Marcus Davidsson's brother Jonathan meant that Sweden would finish off the game with a 5-1 victory to grab the victory.

With Canada's loss, they'll look to steal a win away from the Americans in a 7:00 PM ET start on Saturday evening. Sweden will look to better their record against their hated rivals from Finland, a 4:00 PM game start.

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