In the biggest game for each team, Sweden and Czechia faced off for the number one spot in Group B at the 2025 World Junior Championship. Both teams showed why they are considered a couple of the best heading into the quarterfinals, but Sweden eventually pulled off a 4-2 win to clinch the top spot in their group.
Game Recap
A back-and-forth first period saw both teams get their offensive chances in waves, but both defenses and goaltenders were up to the challenge and limited their opponents’ high-danger chances on goal. Czechia’s defensive play kept a high-powered Swedish offense to the outside parts of the offensive zone and was strong with closing out and limiting any time and space for the Swedes to make a real threat on Michael Hrabal (Utah Hockey Club). Both Hrabal and Melkin Thelin were strong for their respective teams when challenged, stopping 16 and 12 shots, respectively, in a scoreless opening 20 minutes.
Sweden opened the scoring with an early second-period goal on the power play. Herman Traff (New Jersey Devils) took advantage of a blocked shot originally off the stick of Felix Lindstein bouncing to him out front in the slot. He made a quick shot on Hrabal to put the Swedes up 1-0 less than two minutes into the period. Traff celebrated his 19th birthday with another goal later on in the period after the Czechs killed off their second penalty. Still, Sweden cashed in mere seconds later, with Traff cashing in on a rebound right out front to push the lead to 2-0.
Czechia answered back with their own power play goal from Petr Sikora (Washington Capitals) thanks to a strong forecheck by his team after a lost faceoff causing a Sweden turnover. Sikora took a pass at the top of the zone for a one-time shot that Thelin had no chance of stopping to draw the Czechs within one. That would be the closest they would get to a tie game, though, with Sweden scoring twice in 30 seconds in the last five minutes of the second, with Felix Unger Sorum (Carolina Hurricanes) scoring his first goal of the tournament, followed by Anton Wahlberg (Buffalo Sabres) making a strong play in front of the net to kick the puck to his stick to give Sweden a 4-1 lead heading into the third period. After 40 minutes, they held a 28-25 lead in the shot department.
In the third period, Eduard Sale (Seattle Kraken) earned a penalty shot opportunity less than a minute in and cashed in with a strong move to beat Thelin and make it a 4-2 game. Sweden would be on the man advantage three more times in the third period, but a strong Czechia penalty kill helped keep them in the game, holding the tournament’s best power-play unit at bay. The Czechs made a strong push at the end, with Hrabal pulled but could not cash in, and Sweden pulled off a 4-2 win.
In the win, Thelin made 28 saves on 30 shots, while his counterpart, Hrabal, made 37 on 41 shots.
Both teams now wait to see who they will play in the quarterfinals that take place on Jan. 2.
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