I can’t remember ever seeing a team pull their goalie with a two-goal lead, but that’s exactly what was required today between Sweden and Slovakia. Under the tie-breaker rules, Sweden needed at least a 3-goal victory to win the game and the tie-breaker over Slovakia. Doing so would have given Sweden a chance to win Group B.
They were unable to capitalize, and Slovakia is just a Finland victory over Italy away from securing top spot in the group and an immediate birth in the quarterfinals.
The Game
It was Markstrom vs. Hlavaj in this one, and Sweden got off to a great start, keeping Slovakia shotless for the first six minutes of the game.
Just about seven minutes in Sweden would be penalized for too many men, but that would not stop Joel Eriksson Ek, who would get the scoring started on a feed from Adrian Kempe in shorthanded fashion.
Slovakia would earn an equalizer in the first with another goal from standout Juraj Slafkovsky, who continues to light it up on the international stage. It was one-to-one after one.
Goals from Lucas Raymond and Elias Pettersson would re-establish Team Sweden’s lead, and they wouldn’t look back, although Slovakia wasn’t done scoring important goals.
The final goal for Slovakia came with 39 seconds left in the game, on a power play, and, although it didn’t really improve Slovakia’s chances of winning, it was a massive goal due to tie-breaker implications.
I’d imagine Lucas Raymond is a bit disappointed with himself for being sent to the box.
Penalties happen in the heat of battle, but Raymond’s was completely avoidable after he slashed Tomas Tatar in response to taking a hit he didn’t seem to appreciate very much. That opened the door, and Team Slovakia walked right through it.
I asked Gabe Landeskog about the unique situation and outcome following the game:
“It’s a weird feeling. You know you win a game, and you’re supposed to be happy, but all of a sudden, you don’t win. It’s weird.”
“You win the game, but you don’t win the group. It is what it is.”
“We’ll see what ends up happening.”
By The Numbers
Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog has seen a consistent uptick in minutes game after game and finished this contest with 17:23 ice time.
Both teams, Sweden and Slovakia, have a goal differential of +2, but Slovakia’s head-to-head victory over Finland will give them the Group B win, so long as Finland takes care of Italy.
The top 4 teams/group winners (including the top second-place finisher) will earn an immediate bid to the quarterfinals. The rest of the field will start a seeded into a qualification playoff.
Avalanche Spin
It’s a positive sign for Avalanche fans to see Gabe Landeskog slowly getting more minutes as this tournament wears on. Not only that, but he’s also looked really good inside of each game. He’s looked confident and comfortable throughout.
I’d argue that all of the Avalanche players in this tournament have looked good, and even on the power play. Hopefully, this experience allows them to come back to the NHL and Colorado with some fresh ideas.
That said, playing McDavid with MacKinnon on PP1 won’t really be an option anymore.
