Canada's relentless puck pursuit and finish around the goal proved too much for Jacob Markstrom and Tre Kronor tonight. The Canadians won the game, 5-3, and with it finished in first place to play Denmark in the quater-finals on Thursday. Sweden finishes second and will play Czechia.

Both teams finished the preliminary round with six wins and a loss, but Canada's loss was in a shootout last night to Finland, which gave them the extra point and superior position in Group A.

Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two assists; Travis Konecny has three assists; and, Sidney Crosby two helpers for Canada.

For the second night in a row Canada thrilled Avicii crowds with speed, intensity, and seemingly unlimited scoring ability.

"We came out flat the first two periods," admitted Tre Kronor captain Rasmus Andersson. "We didn't come out to our standards, and then there were too many penalties to get into any sort of rhythm. It was frustrating. If we scored a couple on the power play, it might have been different, but we had no momentum."




"We were two completely teams on our side compared to last night [against Finland, a 2-1 loss]," said Canadian defender Mackenzie Weegar. "We were better in the neutral zone tonight and attacking plays quicker. This was a big bounce back. We faced a little adversity last night. It's not going to be an easy tournament. We started on our toes tonight and went right at them, quietened the crowd down right away."

Indeed, Canada got off to an improbably quick start, scoring after just 18 seconds off their first dump-in. The puck bounced over a Sweden stick and wound up with Travis Sanheim to the side of the goal. He barged his way out front and banged the puck under Markstrom, silencing the crowd in the same moment.

Sweden came back with redoubled energy and peppered Jordan Binnington with quality shots, but the goalie was sensational in keeping the home side at bay. It looked worse for Tre Kronor when they took the game’s first penalty, but the reverse happened. 

Brandon Montour bobbled the puck for just a second, giving Elias Lindholm the opportunity to steal it and head down ice on a breakaway. He made no mistake on the deke at 3:47, and the crowd exploded in euphoria. Less than four minutes in, fans knew they were in for a treat.

Canada regained their lead less than four minutes later, though, on a fine effort by Tyson Foerster. He took a long pass from Jared Spurgeon, barrelled in on goal, and beat Markstrom with a deke as he fell to the ice. 

The visitors made it 3-1 at 13:01 on a play the crowd was none too pleased with. Nathan MacKinnon stripped Marcus Pettersson of the puck coming out of his end in a manner which suggested a hooking penalty. There was no call, and MacKinnon got it to Travis Konecny who fed Ryan O’Reilly in front.

Sweden probably had the better of play in the first, but Canada capitalized on its chances and Binnington was letter perfect in the Canadian goal.

The pace of the second period was stunted time and again by penalties. In all, nine minors were whistled, five to Canada, but the only two that mattered were to the Canadians early on. They overlapped, giving the Swedes a five-on-three for 62 seconds. Tre Kronor didn’t need that long. Filip Forsberg threaded a pass to Marcus Johansson to the back side, and his one-timer found the net at 3:02.

But Tre Kronor couldn’t build off that momentum, and Canada restored its two-goal lead midway through. Guess who? Sidney Crosby sent a torpedo pass to Macklin Celebrini, who outskated his man and beat Markstrom with a deke to make it 4-2.

The Canadians added to their tally early in the third thanks to a sensational backhand pass on one knee in the slot by Konecny, who found MacKinnon wide open. He snapped the puck in the open side at 4:11, effectively putting the game out of reach.

The Swedes made it interesting with a late goal and Markstrom on the bench, but that's as close as they came.