The hockey players of Sweden beat Austria 5-0 at the World Cup and won the second match at the tournament without conceding a goal.
Twenty-year-old Jesper Wallstedt kept a clean sheet in his senior championship debut. The Swedes have moved into second place behind the United States in the Group A table, while Austria is sixth with a point gain.
The northerners stepped up for the expected win already in the 4th minute, when Par Lindholm opened the scoring, successfully deflecting Berggren’s shot. The Austrians kept pace with their opponent, but did not create significant chances. They checked Wallstedt’s attention only at the end of the first period.
The Swedes added the second goal in the 27th minute, when Sörensen ended de La Rose’s action with luck. The puck bounced off his stick and skipped over goalkeeper Starkbaum. His counterpart then knocked out opponents’ shots next to his own goal several times, and at the end of the second half, defender Nemeth brought the favorite closer to a three-point win with an accurate and hard finish.
Sweden then took the match to the winning end without any problems and added two more goals. Eighteen-year-old Carlsson, the youngest player at the tournament and the youngest Swede ever to start at the World Cup, was among the scorers. Wallstedt, who was given the opportunity today instead of Lars Johansson, only needed 18 saves to get to zero.
Hockey World Championship:
Group A (Tampere):
Sweden – Austria 5:0 (1:0, 2:0, 2:0)
Goals and assists: 4. P. Lindholm (Berggren, Pudas), 27. Sörensen (J. de La Rose, Tömmernes), 39. Nemeth (Petersson, P. Lindholm), 52. Carlsson (Raymond, A. Nylander), 54. Everberg (Bengtsson, Nemeth). Referees: MacFarlane (USA), Ansons – Zunde (both Lot.), Hautamäki (Fin.). Exclusion: 1:2. No use. Viewers: 5950.
Sweden: Wallstedt – Sandin, Tömmernes, Pudas, A. Lindholm, L. Bengtsson, Nemeth – A. Nylander, Carlsson, Raymond – Berggren, A. Petersson, P. Lindholm – Grundström, Silfverberg, O. Lindberg – J. de la Rose, Sörensen, Everberg. Trainer: Hallam.
Rakousko: Starkbaum – Nickl, B. Wolf, Heinrich, Zündel, Reinbacher, Brunner, Wimmer, Maier -Thaler, Haudum, Wukovits – Nissner, Raffl, Schneider – M. Huber, Rossi, Zwerger – P. Huber, Neubauer, Achermann. Trener: Bader.