SWEDEN BEATS CANADA 6-5 IN SHOOTOUT AT WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The road to gold has become a lot rockier for Canada at the world junior hockey championship.

Patrick Cehlin tied the game at 11:43 of the third period and Oscar Lindberg and Anton Lander were the only scorers in a shootout as Sweden defeated Canada 6-5 in the closing preliminary round game for both teams Friday at an HBC Arena jammed with 17,761 mostly pro-Canadian fans.

The Swedes controlled most of the game and had a 42-34 advantage in shots on Canada, which stayed in the game thanks to fortunate bounces on at least two of their goals.

“I thought we spent too much time in our own end,” said forward Curtis Hamilton, who scored twice. “As the game went on they hemmed us in and that really wore us out.

“That's something we'll look at on the tape and take it into our next game.”

The victory gave unbeaten Sweden first place in their round robin group and a bye to the semifinals, while second-place Canada will have to play Switzerland in the quarter-finals. The Swiss lost to the United States 2-1 later Friday.

It eliminated any chance of a Canada-U.S. final – the showdown most pundits predicted before the tournament.

“It becomes a little bit tougher, but it will make the gold that much more worth it,” said Hamilton. “We'll really earn it now.”

Neither Canada's Ryan Ellis nor Brayden Schenn were able to beat Robin Lehner in the shootout.

With the game tied 4-4 to start the third period, Canada got two quick power plays and Schenn was at the edge of the crease to bang in a rebound for his tournament-leading seventh goal at 3:22.

But goaltender Olivier Roy was on his knees early as Cehlin picked the top corner on a rush to tie the game. That forced a scoreless five-minute overtime and the shootout.

Swedish coach Roger Ronnberg was pleased that his team was able to play its attacking, puck-control game, but he may have given Canada some bulletin board material with his post-game assessment.

“I think we had tougher games against the Czechs and the Russians,” he said. “Those games were tougher to control. They had more offensive chances than Canada did tonight.”

The Swedes, seeking their first tournament victory since 1981, made it known they would be hard to beat when they played Canada to a tough 4-1 loss in an exhibition game in Toronto last week and they took that one step further in their second meeting.

“I think we sent a message the first game we played them,” said Swedish defenceman Patrik Nemeth. “We went out hard and forechecked them and hit them.

“I think they have pretty much respect for us now.”

A question facing Canada now is goaltending. Roy admittedly struggled on some goals, although on the whole he outplayed the leaky Lehner. Coach Dave Cameron said he has yet to decide whether to stick with Roy or turn to Mark Visentin for the next game.

“I don't think either goaltender was player of the game,” said Cameron. “The fans got their money's worth.

“It was an exciting game for them. I thought we were good in the first and third and we were on our heels in the second period.”

Added the dejected Roy: “I don't think I played my best game but it's over. I'll try to refocus and if the coach decides to put me back in I'll be ready for the next one. I didn't control a few rebounds. We had a 5-4 lead in the third and the guys worked hard in front of me, so it's really disappointing. It was a good shot, but I've got to make those stops in a close game like that.”

Sean Couturier and Quinton Howden also scored for Canada.

Carl Klingberg, with two, Max Freiberg and Jesper Thornberg had Sweden's other goals.

Canada struck 58 seconds into the game when Couturier threw a pick toward the net and, with Marcus Foligno crowding the crease, saw it go in off a defender.

Foligno was hammering Swedes with bodychecks all night and Canada's physical presence should be bigger when six-foot-three winger Zack Kassian returns for the quarter-finals after sitting out two games for a hit to the head of a Czech player on Tuesday.

Sweden tied it on a power play at 2:14 as Freiberg batted a rebound out of the air.

Klingberg walked out from the corner and beat Roy with a high shot through traffic at 14:55, but only 43 seconds later, Howden's long shot fooled Lehner. Canada went ahead with one second left in the period when Ryan Johansen's shot took a strange hop off the glass for Hamilton to put in from the doorstep.

The Swedes stormed out in the second as Klingberg scored on a rebound 54 seconds in and Thornberg saw his shot deflect over Roy at 2:44. Schenn fed Hamilton on a short-handed two-on-one to tie it at 4:37.

Canada thought they had the go-ahead goal late in the period when Couturier's shot was trapped near the line by Lehner, but officials ruled no goal and did not call for a video review.

“We got a few bounces, they got a few bounces, but they got the ones that won the game,” said Ellis. “We're Canadians, we live for hockey and we live for adversity.

“Now we've got a little bit in our face and we have to refocus.”

Notes – Both teams were missing a key player to injury: Canada's Jaden Schwartz and Sweden's Gabriel Landeskog … Under the IIHF's 3-2-1 system of awarding points, Sweden got two points and finished with three wins and a shootout win for 11 points. Canada had three wins and shootout loss for 10 points.