The Swedish gold dream is extinguished after a heavy semi-final against the Czech Republic. After a promising start, Tre Kronor collapsed completely and eventually lost 3-7.
– What the hell do I feel? Emptiness maybe. Certainly not a feeling you want. We lose 3-7, so there are no excuses, says Erik Karlsson.
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Swedish nightmare minutes
It was a semi-final that swung quickly – and many times.
After opening goals by Marcus Johansson and Marcus Pettersson, things turned around completely.
The Czech Republic, bolstered by a packed home arena at the back, struck six times again.
First came the equalizer in the first period. In the second, they struck three times in the space of less than three minutes, and between 3-2 and 4-2 only 16 seconds separated.
A nightmare for Tre Kronor, but it would get worse.
Goalkeeper change
After Kubalik sent in his second goal of the day, Sam Hallam opted to change goalkeepers. Filip Gustavsson had to leave the ice and Samuel Ersson took over the responsibility.
But the exchange did not have the desired result. Lukas Sedlak instead punctuated the match when he secured the final score 7-3 with two straight goals. Sedlak also appeared to be a hat-trick scorer at the end, but that goal was disallowed.
– We did everything we could to come back, but maybe we wanted too much, says Dahlin.
Tonight, Canada faces Switzerland in the other semi-final. Then it will be decided which team Tre Kronor will face in tomorrow’s bronze match.