Top standouts from Germany vs. Sweden at 2024 World Junior Championship
The Germans were hoping to take the momentum gained from beating Finland for the first time ever on Wednesday and beat Sweden, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Instead, the tournament hosts went on to win 5-0, but it was 1-0 for a large chunk of it. The Swedes controlled the pace of play, starting by outshooting Germany 18-6 in the opening frame. Germany kept things close, largely due to the strong early play of Matthias Bittner, but Otto Stenberg, Noah Ostlund and Mattias Havelid had other plans.
Melker Thelin kept Sweden’s shutout streak alive, stopping all 15 shots today after Hugo Havelid stopped everything Latvia sent his way on Tuesday.
Sweden won’t have much time to rest as they’ll face Canada at 1:30 PM ET on Friday. They’ll get Saturday off before a crucial New Year’s Eve game against Finland at 8:30 AM ET on Sunday, their final game of the preliminary round.
The Germans will get Friday off before an important game against Latvia on Saturday, one that could prove crucial in the final standings. They’ll close things out against Germany on Sunday in the final game of round robin.
Here’s a look at the top players from both teams on Thursday:
Sweden
#25 Otto Stenberg, LW (St. Louis Blues): Few junior players shine internationally like Stenberg. He was Sweden’s star at the U-18 World Championship, and now he has his first WJC hat-trick. His shot is among the best on Sweden, and he let it rip for the opening goal in the first period. He nearly made it a 3-0 game late in the first period, but would eventually make it happen with a one-timer on the power play at 46:16. Stenberg then got the rebound in front of the net to complete the hat-trick with 10:58 left in the game, sending the hometown crowd into a frenzy. It wouldn’t have surprised me if he had two other goals with his active he was around the net.
#20 Liam Ohgren, LW (Minnesota Wild): I was surprised Ohgren didn’t score given how much he had the puck early on. He had five shots in the first two periods alone, driving to the net hard often. Ohgren is a smart player who can produce on a dime, and after missing time due to injuries, it looks like he’s just waiting to finally get a puck in the net at some point.
#5 Mattias Havelid, D (San Jose Sharks): Don’t give Havelid space to shoot, because he can wire it. He used the traffic in front of the German goal to send a hard shot top corner over Bittner near the end of the second period, making it a 2-0 game. That’s what he does, waiting until the goalie can’t do anything about it to fire shots, something that has become a trademark of his game in recent years.
#16 Felix Unger Sorum, RW (Carolina Hurricanes): Between the smart plays, and the two-point effort, Unger Sorum was excellent again today. He’s quickly becoming one of my favorite prospects – he’s creative, has a high hockey IQ and brings the energy. Today was yet another great showing for him, and there hasn’t been many bad ones when donning the yellow and blue.
Germany
#1 Matthias Bittner, G (Undrafted): The two teams were clearly outmatched, and the Germans weren’t expecting a repeat of yesterday. But Germany’s backup looked excellent, stopping 17 shots in the first frame alone, including some five-bell chances. Things fell apart in the latter stages of the game, but there wasn’t much Bittner could have done personally.
#8 Julian Lutz, LW (Arizona Coyotes): While scoring dangerous chances were far and few between for the Germans, Lutz did have three good chances when the game was still 1-0. Lutz looked heartbroken when he took a penalty late in the game against Finland yesterday, but was probably the most ecstatic person when the Germans held on. Today, he was the most dangerous player on the team.
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