The hosts were too much for Canada as some late line shuffling wasn't enough to turn the tide.
The hosts were too much for Canada as some late line shuffling wasn't enough to turn the tide.
The Canadians were going to be in for a tough test against Sweden as the hosts had yet to give up a single goal through their first two games of the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship.
That trend continued as Sweden blanked Canada 2-0 to improve to 3-0-0-0 for the tournament.
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect and Canadian captain Fraser Minten had a particularly difficult time in the first period when he received a double-minor penalty for high sticking.
Canada was able to kill off the four minutes. But Minten was on the ice for Sweden's first goal, A Tom Willander shot from outside of the circle that made it 1-0 for the Swedes.
Noah Ostlund scored Sweden's second goal of the game for a 2-0 lead in the second period.
Canada head coach Alan Letang shuffled up his lines for the first time in the tournament to begin the third period, but the Canadians were unable to find a response.
Sweden improved to 3-0-0-0 and took the outright lead in Group 'A' while Canada fell to 2-0-0-1. Minten, selected by the Maple Leafs in the second round (38th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft, finished the game with five shots on goal, accounting for nearly a quarter of Canada shots on goal for the game. He also had 19:08 of ice time.
Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan was also held off the score sheet on Friday. Toronto's first-round (28th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft, Cowan logged 13:07 of ice time.
Minten has a goal and an assist through two tournament games while Cowan is still looking for his first point of the tournament.
Canada is back at it on Sunday against Germany.
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