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After 40 minutes the game was still scoreless. Swedish goalie Jesper Wallstedt made an outstanding effort to rob all the Russians snipers with 49 saves but he couldn´t do it alone. Russia outscored Sweden 3-0 in the third period to clinch first place in Group B.
Penalties: 7:6. PP goals: 0:1. SH goals: 0:0.
Referees: Štefik, Müllner – Krajčík, Durmis. Attendance: 321.
Report
The two leaders of Group B wanted to clinch a playoff spot. Sweden chose 16-year-old goalie Jesper Wallstedt, who was a part of the gold-medal team at the U18 World Championship this past spring. He did well the whole game, stopping 48 shots and drove Russian snipers Alexander Pashin and Ivan Didkovsky crazy.
The atlethic style of Wallstedt wasn't beaten by the Russians until the 53rd minute of play. After big rush to the net, Vasily Ponomayov scored on a rebound. At this point, the Swedes were struggling in their defensive zone and they could not resist any longer.
One of the Swedish defenceman failed to keep Bogdan Trineyev out of the danger zone and and the Russian forward redirected Daniil Khayka´s shot from the blue line. The Swedes tried hard to equalize the game but Pavel Tyutnev shattered their chances with an empty-netter.
With the win, Russia clinches top spot in Group B, while the Swedes will fight for second place and a spot in the semi-finals in a huge game against the Americans tomorrow.