PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Erik Karlsson scored the winning goal against France, 3–1 victory, when the group victory was secured.
But he has not set his sights on a quarter-final opponent:
– If we do our part and focus on ourselves, it shouldn’t matter who we play against.
It is between Austria and Finland who will take fourth place in Group A.
It will also be Tre Kronor’s quarter-final opponent on Thursday in Ostrava.
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Nor Rasmus Dahlin have a wish opponent:
– It does not matter. We have to win three games in the playoffs, so it’s just a matter of beating the team we get.
“Playing for life”
But Buffalo’s star quarterback would not want to be in Finland’s pressure situation.
– They are playing for their lives right now and it is nicer to be on the other side and to have managed the group victory, says Dahlin.
The opponent will be decided during the last game day of the group stage on Tuesday, when Sweden also finishes against Slovakia.
Erik Karlsson was satisfied that the group victory is secured, which means a good seeding in the playoffs.
– It’s always nice. We play to win every game. Now we have one match left, it can be fun and good for us to play against a good opposition (Slovakia) before we step into “do or die”, he says.
“Great timing”
Karlsson spoke in Viaplay after two periods about his team not making a good effort so far.
Then he entered the third period and splashed in the winning goal 2-1 directly in numerical superiority.
– Of course it was good timing, since it was me this time it doesn’t matter that much, says team captain Karlsson about his third goal and sixth point so far in the tournament.
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It was only Sweden’s fourth power play goal in 22 opportunities so far in the tournament.
– It’s a bit like that if you look at statistics. It doesn’t look great all the time I imagine. At the same time, I think it still feels perfectly fine, which is the most important thing. Then we can hope that we can kick in when it is most needed, says Karlsson.
Sweden will have a busy schedule this week if they make it all the way to the medal matches in Prague.
In that case, Monday’s match was the first of five in seven days.
– It’s been quite a while since it was done. It feels like if we take care of ourselves and focus on ours, the energy, strength and will will be there, says Karlsson.
READ MORE: Scary figures for Tre Kronor during the hockey World Cup that show why Sweden is worse than France and Kazakhstan
Resistance in the quarter
It stands between Finland, ten points, and Austria, seven points, in the fight for fourth place in the group. Austria – who have not reached a World Cup quarter-final in 30 years – will already meet at 16.20 the iron gang Great Britain, who have six straight losses and 8-28 in goal difference.
At 20:20, Finland and Switzerland (14 points) meet. If Austria has taken a scheduled victory against the British, the Finns must take at least one point against Switzerland, who have the Czech Republic (15 points) and Canada (17) ahead of them in the table.
If both Finland and Austria are on ten points, the Alpine country is ahead thanks to its late 2-1 victory in head-to-head meetings.
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