Before the start of the quarter-finals, the Swedes were assigned the status of favorite in the game with the Canadians. The Swedish national team had an almost perfect group stage – six wins and one loss in overtime against the US team.

The Canadians, on the other hand, got off to a solid start in the tournament, winning four matches in a row, but then the “maple leaves” unexpectedly rained down – defeats from Switzerland and Denmark, which did not even make it to the playoffs. In the last match, the Canadians dispersed and defeated the French (7:1). However, a major victory over a weak team is unlikely to have given confidence to the Canadian hockey players before the meeting with the Swedes.

Canadian fans still hoped that the elimination games were another tournament in which their compatriots always feel confident. However, the unstable performance in the group did not affect the playoffs – the Canadians gave out a fiery match and bounced back from 0:3.

Photo: © Maxim Thore / Keystone Press Agency / Global Look Press

The main comeback of the tournament

Canadian fans already at the beginning of the match resigned themselves to the fact that their team did not draw any conclusions after the group stage – the Maple Leaves made all the same mistakes in defense. At first, the defenders forgot to close Karl Klingberg, who entered the shock position and opened the scoring, as if throwing under the crossbar.

And then the defenders of the Canadian national team made a mistake in the attack zone – the defense player from the blue line threw towards the goal, but the puck hit William Nylander’s pads. The Swedish striker immediately rushed to the attack, rolled out one on one with the goalkeeper and outplayed him without any problems.

The Canadians did not wake up from two missed goals, but, on the contrary, they could have missed the third goal, having retired twice in a row. However, the North Americans were very lucky, and the Swedes were not able to realize the majority of “5 on 3”.

In the break before the second period, the coaching staff of Tre Krunur, it seems, decided to make serious changes in the game of their team, giving the hockey players the instruction to play by the score. The Swedish players did an excellent job with the task – they took almost no risks on offense and played extremely carefully on defense, trying to catch the Canadians on their mistakes. But the players of the Swedish national team managed to carry out a dangerous counterattack only once during the period, but this was enough to upset the opponent again – Max Friberg, after throwing Eric Gustafsson, corrected the puck into the goal.

The puck was the only bright spot in the Swedish attack in the second period – only one shot per game segment. The Canadians did not leave the Tre Krunur zone at all, constantly attacking dangerously. But the Swedish keeper Linus Ullmark showed a brilliant game, reflecting 19 shots.

In the final 20 minutes, both teams decided not to change the pattern of the game – the Canadians still stormed the Ullmark gate, and the Swedes defended tightly. The exorbitant focus of the current world champions on the gate could not but lead to results, and at the beginning of the third period, Ryan Graves reduced the gap in the score.

Photo: © Kalle Parkkinen / Newspix24 / Global Look Press

After the missed puck, the Swedes moved away from keeping the score and began to play as in the first period. With such a game, the team of Yukhan Garpenlev looked better than the opponent and was close to score the fourth goal. But the Swedes did not stick to this style for long and at the end of the final period they again went on the defensive.

The game with the second number brought only problems for Tre Krunur – the Swedes began to meet the Canadians already in the middle zone, and were immediately discarded during the selection. At one of these moments, Rasmus Dalin threw the puck off the site, for which he received a removal. The Canadians converted the majority as if by a textbook – after a series of short passes, the puck ended up with Pierre Dubois, who completed the attack with a goal with one touch.

On courage, the Maple Leaves ran forward and a minute and a half before the end of the period, Matthew Barzal flashed Ulmark with an uncomfortable hand. After an abandoned puck, the Canadians continued to put pressure on and escalate the situation at the gate, but they failed to finish the match in regular time.

In overtime, the Swedes were once again summed up by the removal – already 25 seconds after the start of overtime, Nylander went to the penalty box. The Canadians took advantage of such a gift and broke the defense of Tre Krunur – Drake Baterson threw into an empty net.

After such a spectacular match, not a single fan of the Canadian team will remember the defeat of the Danes by their compatriots.

Ice Hockey World Championship 2022. Quarterfinal

Sweden – Canada – 3:4 OT (2:0, 1:0, 0:3, 0:1)

Goals: Klingberg, 1:27 (VIDEO). Nylander, 7:04 (VIDEO). Friberg, 28:23 (VIDEO). — Graves, 41:21 (VIDEO). Dubois, 58:07 (Bol.) (VIDEO). Barzel, 58:37 (VIDEO). Baterson, 60:43 (bol.) (VIDEO).