NHL News

Home

Teams

Quizzes

Newsletter

Via The Hockey Writers

3 Takeaways From Sweden’s 3-2 Win Over Slovakia

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Jim Precourt | Last updated Dec 26, 2025 9:35 PM ET

Team Sweden beat Team Slovakia 3-2 in a close matchup to open up the World Junior Championship. It wasn’t an all-around pretty game for Sweden, but they got the job done late. Here are the takeaways.

5-on-5 Needs Work

Slovakia dominated Sweden in terms of 5-on-5 play. Sweden controlled the puck well for some of the game and only failed a few zone entries, but everything else was rough. They turn the puck over way too much, and since their defensemen are so aggressive, no one is there at the blue line to pick up the slack.

Since their defensemen are always engaged offensively, even when they don’t have the puck, there were only a couple of instances where the defense was far enough ahead of the play to comfortably backcheck. For 95% of the game, they were skating back or even stride-for-stride with a Slovak.

Another issue with the defenders is when the forwards try to chip it back to the point, they’re already in motion, or even down in the corners, like that one instance with Sascha Boumedienne in the first period. Ideally, you have an aggressive offensive attack in this tournament, but the Swedish players also need to know when to back off.

Goaltending Came Up Big

Love Harenstam was one of the two saving graces for the Swedes. He stopped 23 of 25 shots from Slovakia, including helping to kill off four of five penalties with big-time saves. Slovakia’s power play was on point the whole game, and with the help of Harenstam and his penalty killers, the penalty kill went 80%.

Harenstam made multiple saves in which he barely had any vision of where the puck was, and his glove (and left shoulder) were hot throughout the full game. He’s a key piece to the defense as a whole because of how it’s set up. Slovakia forms a wall and blocks a lot of shots; Sweden attacks and tries to get the puck back, leaving a lot of space for pucks to get through, and it’s even harder when he’s screened.

On Slovakia’s side, Alan Lendak was incredible, making sliding and vital saves the whole time when Sweden was on the power play and the whole game as a whole — he won the player of the game award on their side. Ultimately, it was a goaltending battle, and Harenstam won it, and he was a huge reason why they won.

Power Play Carried Sweden

Teams cannot take penalties against Sweden after what we saw. The power play of Anton Frondell, Ivar Stenberg, Jack Berglund, Viktor Eklund, and Alfons Freij is just straight up unfair. The shot can come from any one of those guys and be just as lethal. But the main highlight on that unit is Frondell on the right side with that left-handed shot of his.

Frondell is showing exactly why he was selected third overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in June. His one-timer carries the whole unit. Frondell, on the same power play, hit Lendek in the mask with a shot and then bounced off the post, and then on the next opportunity he got, he ripped one past him and scored the first goal of the tournament. Teams are going to have to start considering the idea of putting a single guy on Frondell as they did in Ottawa. It might be better to play 4-on-3 at this point in time.

THE FIRST GOAL OF THE TOURNAMENT!

Anton Frondell gets Sweden on the board first! #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/QnjYJkHXWI
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 26, 2025

The other strong piece to this power play is Stenberg. The way he controls the puck is something to watch. His hockey IQ is off the charts, and he sees lanes no one else does. Stenberg commands just as much attention as Frondell does, and he’ll be feeding him much more for the duration of the tournament. His shot is accurate, too, so you can’t give him too much space. Stenberg had the game-winning goal later in the game.

On the second power-play goal of the night, it was surgical from Sweden. The puck movement between the five, the fake shots, and creating space were perfect; Slovakia was flailing. It ended up in Frondell firing the puck down to Viktor Eklund, who put it home to take the 2-0 lead.