The defending gold medalists got their title defense off to a good start this week with back to back wins over underdogs Germany and Belarus. Both games were a bit more difficult than expected for the talented Swedes, as unheralded netminders Thomas Greiss and Andrei Mezin both turned in solid performances to keep their teams in the game.
Against Germany, Sweden got off to a very slow start, failing to register a shot until just about the halfway point of the period. The Germans played a solid physical game, and did a good job of keeping the pressure on the Swedes all game. In the 2nd, veteran Mattias Ohlund scored the Swedes’ first goal of the tournament on a powerplay 4 and a half minutes into the frame, and Loui Eriksson of the Dallas Stars added some insurance ten minutes later. Henrik Lundqvist made 21 saves for the Swedes, while Greiss stopped 23 of 25 shots for the Germans.
Today’s game against Belarus was a bit more meaningful for both clubs, as Sweden looked to avenge a 4-0 loss to Belarus in the 2002 Olympics. Jonas Gustavsson got the start for the Swedes in net, recording 17 saves in the game, but the real story was Andrei Mezin, who made a 34 saves and kept the lethal Swedish offense in check enough to make a game of it. Daniel Sedin scored the game’s first goal at 6:40 in the first, followed by Danny Alfredsson’s powerplay goal 2 minutes later. Sweden went up 3-0 in the 3rd off Johan Franzen’s goal, and it appeared that the rout was on. Dmitry Meleshko had other plans, however, scoring twice, once in the 2nd and again in the 3rd to draw his club within a single goal of tying the game. A couple of Belarus chances came very close to tying the game, including a shot that rang off the bar late in the 3rd. Alfredsson would add his 2nd goal with 11 seconds remaining the game to ice it.
Sweden faces their neighbors from Finland on Sunday, in what could be a pivotal game to decide who gets the bye from their group. The Finns beat Belarus earlier in the week, and face Germany tomorrow afternoon.