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Olympic Quarterfinals: Sweden 5 - Slovenia 0 -- Tre Kronor Moves to Semis |
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WRAPUP
Tre Kronor advanced to the semifinals of the medal round after a methodical 5-0 win over underdog Slovenia. After a bit of a sloppy start to the game, Pär Mårts team wore down the Slovenians and then exploded for four goals in the third period.
Alexander Steen's first period power play goal stood up until the final stanza when the Swedes got plenty of supplementary insurance. Daniel Sedin, Loui Eriksson and Carl Hagelin (twice) potted even strength goals.
Henrik Lundqvist earned a 19-save shutout for the Swedes. The New York Rangers star was not tested all that much but had to make three or four tough stops, including a clutch 2-on-1 save on Ziga Jeglic in the first period when the game was still scoreless.
Sweden will await the winner of the Russia-Finland quarterfinal. The semis will be held on Friday.
3RD PERIOD
1:22: 2-0 SWE -- Loui Eriksson took the puck behind the net, slid out on front and made a tape-to-tape centering pass to an open Daniel Sedin in the left slot. Sedin made no mistake, scoring his first goal of the tournament and third career Olympic goal.
2:33: Kopitar's second scoring chance of the game. Again, he fired wide of the net, this time driving down the middle and firing high and wide of the glove.
3:11: Marcus Johansson goes off for slashing.
5:11: Penalty killed successfully; Sweden 3-for-3 on the PK. Some great positional and puck-clearing work by Niklas Hjalmarsson and Niklas Kronwall in particular.
5:45: Henrik Lundqvist made his 13th save of the game. Jan Urbas drove to the net with his stick on the ice and attempted to re-direct a pass from David Rodman.
7:27: On a crossover at the blueline, Anze Kopitar fed David Rodman. Henrik Lundqvist had to react fast to Rodman's wicked shot.
8:04: 3-0 SWE -- At the end of a long forechecking sequence for the Swedes, Loui Eriksson got the puck up high in the offensive zone and found daylight to skate into the right circle. The Bruins' forward rifled the puck home top shelf. Assists to Nicklas Bäckström and Johnny Oduya.
9:07: Matja Robar went off for holding. Sweden to the power play.
10:22: The Swedes got a little sloppy in their puck handling in the offensive zone and Jan Urbas countered on a shorthanded scoring chance. Henrik Lundqvist had the answer.
11:07: Penalty expired.
11:27: 4-0 SWE: Jimmie Ericsson gets the puck on the end boards after sending it out to Niklas Kronwall at the point. Ericsson found a wide open Carl Hagelin in front. Moving to his left at point blank range, Hagelin beat Kristan.
14:03: Several minutes of non-descript play before a stoppage; Slovenia looking very fatigued and the Swedes content to more or less play four-corners hockey.
16:10: 5-0 SWE: Hagelin peeled out of the corner, came out in front and neatly redirected a perfect low set-up from Erik Karlsson. Marcus Krüger got the secondary assist.
20:00: Game over. Sweden outshot Slovenia in the third period by a 12-8 margin, finding the net four times. For the game, Tre Kronor outshot their overmatched opponent by a 38-19 margin.
2ND PERIOD
1:10: The carryover penalty ended. Sweden's streak of consecutive power play goals ended at five in a row. Erik Karlsson broke a stick on a shot attempt at around the 1:30 mark.
1:43: Gabriel Landeskog picked up a (somewhat marginal) holding the stick penalty in the offensive zone. Slovenia to the power play.
3:23: After the Swedes gave them problems setting up, there was finally some good puck movement by the Slovenians on the power play. A couple of shot attempts hit Jan Mursak in front of the net and went wide of Lundqvist's net on unfriendly deflections.
3:43: Landeskog penalty ended for Sweden. Tre Kronor is 2-for-2 on the PK.
4:10: Excellent pad save by Robert Kristan on Loui Eriksson. Sweden is getting its transition game cranked up as the game progresses.
5:10: Anze Kopitar narrowly misses the net on a shot from the medium slot. Good scoring chance for Slovenia's most dangerous player.
8:50: Clean faceoff win for the Swedes leads to a good scoring chance moments later. Robert Kristan had to come up big to deny Nicklas Bäckström on a quick shot off a pass from Loui Eriksson.
10:10: It looked like the Swedes got away with too many men on the ice. Moments later, the Slovaks had a flurry in the Swedish end of ht ice.
10:58: Hagelin got caught with his head down and got caught with a shoulder up high by Sabahudin Kovacevik. Interference called on the play. Sweden to its third power play of the game. This was a dangerous-looking hit with the head as the primary point of contact.
11:57: The Swedish power play generated good puck movement and Daniel Sedin narrowly missed steering in a puck from near the net. As it rolled away, Sedin tripped the Slovenian defenseman, receiving a penalty.
13:57: Teams returned to full strength as Sedin penalty ended. Some good forechecking work by the Swedes upon the expiration of the penalty.
14:18: A two-on-one for the Swedes goes awry. A little bit of overpassing.
19:50: Alexander Edler pinches in deep on an offensive rush for the Swedes.
20:00: Sweden outshot Slovenia by a 16-5 margin in the second period; 26-11 thus far in the game. The middle stanza was a faster paced period than the first, as the Swedes started to get their passing and transition games in gear and also to generate a little more offense from the back line. Robert Kristan had to come up big several times for the Slovenians to keep the deficit at one goal. Through 40 minutes, the Swedes held Anze Kopitar without a shot on goal, although he narrowly missed the net on a scoring chance.
1ST PERIOD
3:18: Robert Kristan stopped the game's first good scoring chance, denying Daniel Sedin on a snap shot from the right circle. Good pass from Niklas Kronwall to set up the chance.
4:10: Kristan made a should stop on Alexander Steen on a sharp-angle try from the left side.
5:50: Henrik Lundqvist made his first save of the game; routine and unscreened shot from distance.
6:54: Jonanthan Ericsson picked up the game's first penalty for tripping Robert Sabolic.
8:54: Sweden killed the penalty without allowing a shot or a scoring chance.
9:30: A blocked shot in the offensive zone led to a heap of trouble for the Swedes. Lundqvist had to deny Ziga Jeglic on a 2-on-1 rush. The Slovenians continued to press and got a second scoring chance.
12:20: Erik Karlsson absorbed a hit from Rok Ticar behind the net to make a good breakout pass. The Swedes had an offensive foray but no shots resulted.
15:30: The Swedes have been stuck on five shots for quite awhile. The Slovenians have started to cut down the lanes.
17:00: Niklas Hjalmarsson got run over behind the net by big Jan Urbas.
17:32: A good stick save by Henrik Lundqvist on David Rodman.
17:46 : Offensive zone penalty by Jan Mursak for slashing.
18:32: Snap shot by Daniel Alfredsson denied by Robert Kristan.
18:50: 1-0 SWE -- Daniel Alfredsson from the right side pushed the puck back to Erik Karlsson at the point. The Karlsson shot went wide and bounced off the end boards, taking a friendly carom out in front to an open Alexander Steen near the left post. Steen tucked it home for his first goal of the Olympics. It was the fifth straight power play goal for the Swedes.
19:10: Robert Sabolic went off for hooking. Sweden back to the power play.
20:00: Sweden will have 1:10 of carryover power play time to start the second period. Shots in the first period were 10-6 in favor of the Swedes. It took awhile for both teams to get their skating legs under them, and it was a rather "sleepy" period for Tre Kronor in general until their late surge. There were some sloppy passes and line chances, as well as yielding a 2-on-1 rush and having some turnovers between the bluelines. Over the latter part of the period, the Swedes got going.
PREGAME PREVIEW
Coming off a 3-0-0 preliminary round that saw them defeat the Czech Republic (4-2), Switzerland (1-0) and Latvia (5-3), Team Sweden has had two days off to practice and iron out the kinks in their game. Today, Tre Kronor will take on Slovenia in the quarterfinals.
The Swedes will be prohibitive favorites in the game. The Slovenians were not expected to make it this far in their first Olympics. They have proven to be a unified and determined squad that is greater than the sum of its parts. Beyond NHL star Anze Kopitar, the Slovenian squad is primarily comprised of players from European teams. Jan Mursak is a former NHLer. Goaltender Robert Kristan is a veteran who has past experience playing pro hockey in Sweden.
This is how the Swedes will line up for the game:
Daniel Sedin - Nicklas Bäckström - Loui Eriksson
Alexander Steen - Patrik Berglund - Daniel Alfredsson
Gabriel Landeskog - Marcus Johansson - Jakub Silfverberg
Carl Hagelin - Jimmie Ericsson - Gustav Nyquist
Marcus Krüger (13th forward)
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Erik Karlsson
Niklas Kronwall - Jonathan Ericsson
Niklas Hjalmarsson - Johnny Oduya
Alexander Edler - Henrik Tallinder
Henrik Lundqvist
[Jhonas Enroth]
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