Persson’s double and Fasth’s shutout saves the day for Sweden

02 May 2011 | Fredrik Pålsson

Niklas Persson scores two goals a vital win for Sweden after a shaky start against Austria.

After losing to Norway after a shootout Sweden started very shaky agains Austria but at the end they stood there with an important win, 3-0 against Austria. Austria made a good first half of the game but had their second straight lost and need to improve their goal scoring to beat Norway in the last game of the first round.

Austria started well and had a few early chances but after killing a penalty Sweden took over more but it was only for a short while and Austria had a great chance on a 2 on 1 counter attack but Viktor Fasth save Johannes Reichel's attempt from close range. After that Austria felt like the better team and Oliver Setzinger had a great chance on a breakaway after a blocked shot but Fasth made another solid save.

Sweden made a really bad first period and had very difficult to create any chances and took many stupid shots that lead to Austrian counter attacks. In the last minute of the period managed to create some chances and at 19:39 Sweden took the lead after a nice play Niklas Persson scored after a nice assist by Loui Eriksson. A lead Sweden had to be very glad for. Shots on goal in the first period was 9-11 but for a while it was 2-10 in favour of the Austrians.

In the second period Sweden came out stronger but Austria continue to play well and created some chances aswell but after five minutes Niklas Persson scored his second goal when he deflected David Petrasek's shot from the blueline past Fabian Weinhandl. Sweden had a three minutes long power play with one minute of 5 against 3 but failed to score despite several good chances. Austria also had two power plays but had weak finishes left them goalless also in the second period.

In the third Sweden extended their lead to 3-0 when Magnus Pääjärvi Svensson found the net from right flank when he picked up the rebound on David Petrasek's power play shot. After that goal it felt like the game was over and Sweden was in full control of the game. Nicklas Grossman was unlucky had to leave the game with a knee injury after being hit by his team mate Pääjärvi. The rest of the game was a wait for the final buzzer and no more goals were scored.

Viktor Fasth made a great effort for the shutout in his first ever WC game while Oliver Setzinger was the best Austrian player creating some good scoring chances. However goalie Fabian Weinhandl was given the official award.