Erik Karlsson picked up two goals and an assist in Sweden's 5-1 win over Poland on Sunday at the World Championship in Czechia.
Karlsson, who is serving as Sweden's captain, had the secondary assist on his team's opening goal by Marcus Johansson:
Karlsson's first goal put Sweden up 3-0 in the second period:
Karlsson's second goal of the game was Sweden's fifth:
"When you say Poland and hockey, it doesn't really go hand in hand all the time but they're a good hockey team," Karlsson told reporters after the win. "They played some good hockey, they made it hard for us and they created some good chances and capitalized on some things we didn't do so well. It was a fun game, it was a good game. We're happy with the win."
Karlsson played 22:58 in the win, recording four shots and a plus-2 rating on Sweden's top pairing alongside Victor Hedman. Marcus Pettersson was scoreless with one shot on goal and a minus-1 rating in 16:10 on a third pairing rotating with Tim Heed and former Penguins defense prospect Lukas Bengtsson.
MORE FROM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DAY 3
• Finland shut out Great Britain, 8-0. Jesse Puljujarvi scored Finland's second goal:
Puljujarvi picked up a primary of assists, first on a goal from former Penguins defenseman Juuso Riikola. Less than four minutes later Puljujarvi set up this goal from Oliver Kapanen, cousin of Kasperi:
Puljujarvi recorded three shots on goal and a plus-5 rating in 16:39 on Finland's second line. Valtteri Puustinen was scoreless but recorded four shots on goal and a plus-2 rating in 17:42 on the top line.
Former Penguins forward and Finnish captain Mikael Granlund had four assists, and former Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta had a goal and an assist. Former Penguins goaltending prospect Emil Larmi recorded 14 saves in his shutout.
• Canada defeated Denmark, 5-1. Michael Bunting had the first assist on Canada's opening goal from Connor Bedard. Bunting went to the netfront after setting up Bedard, and was responsible for the goal initially being called off for goaltender interference, but it was ruled a good goal after review:
Bunting had four shots on goal and a plus-1 rating in 12:06 on Canada's top line alongside Bedard and Nick Paul.
• Latvia defeated France, 3-2. Penguins forward prospect Raivis Ansons was scoreless with no shots and a minus-1 rating in 9:19 on Latvia's fourth line.
• Defense prospect Thimo Nickl, who was acquired by the Penguins in a trade last spring and played for the Nailers this season, joined the Austrian team after the Nailers' elimination this week. He's expected to be available next game. Nickl has already signed a contract to play in Austria next season, so he won't be re-signed.
• There are three games involving Penguins players on Monday's schedule:
10:20 a.m. Eastern: Finland vs. Norway, with Puustinen and Puljujarvi on Finland
10:20 a.m.: U.S. vs. Slovakia, with Alex Nedeljkovic on the U.S. roster and Ty Hennes serving as assistant coach. Nedeljkovic didn't dress in either of the first two games the U.S. played.
2:20 p.m.: Germany vs. Sweden, with Karlsson and Pettersson on Sweden.
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