Sandin Pellikka, Sweden Advance to World Junior Gold Medal Game
Axel Sandin Pellikka and the host Swedes advanced to the WJC gold medal game with a 5-2 semi-final win over Czechia
2023 Detroit Red Wings first round pick Axel Sandin Pellikka and Team Sweden secured their passage to the gold medal game of the 2024 World Junior Championship with a 5-2 semifinal win over Czechia in Gothenburg.
It's been a relatively quiet tournament for Sandin Pellikka compared to his prolific campaign for Skellefteå AIK in the SHL, but he notched a goal and an assist in the Swedes' semifinal victory.
With the game tied at one early in the second, the 18-year-old showed off his lethal combination of vision, edge work, and finishing—wheeling across the top of the offensive zone with his head up before wiring a wrister past Michael Hrabal to give Sweden a 2-1 advantage.
THN's Ryan Kennedy reported after the game that Sandin Pellikka told the media that Sweden consciously targeted Hrabal's glove side.
After Tomas Cibulka tied the game for the Czechs later in the period, Sandin Pellikka provided the primary assist on what would prove the game-winning goal. With Sweden on the power play, he teed up Jonathan Lekkerimaki for a one-timer that gave his team a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
In the final (which will be played tomorrow at 1:30 Eastern), Sweden awaits the winner of the USA-Finland semifinal, which will be played at 1:30 Eastern today.
For the Swedes, this tournament represented a momentous opportunity. Sweden has not won a WJC since 2012 in Calgary and Edmonton and hasn't hosted one since 2014 in Malmo (when they lost the gold medal game to Finland).
Now, they are on the brink of realizing the potential this tournament provided, as Sandin Pellikka and the Swedes will look to reclaim WJC gold on home ice tomorrow at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg.
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