It perhaps took a little longer than the crowd had expected before Sweden scored the first goal. You could also hear Kazakh supporters in the arena, cheering every time a Swedish finish did not reach the back of the net.
But after ten minutes came Sweden’s 1-0. Marcus Johansson received the puck centrally in the offensive zone from André Burakovsky, feinted shots and then placed the puck low behind the Kazakh goalkeeper.
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That was also the score after the first period despite 15-1 in shots. The goal meant that Sweden has not yet gone goalless from a period this World Cup.
– I don’t care so much about points here or there as long as we win. Then whether you contribute by scoring or covering shots doesn’t matter, says Marcus Johansson to SVT Sport.
Johansson’s first WC goal
That trend continued in the second period as well, where Linus Johansson – via his first championship goal – was the sole scorer.
– It was fun. It is not something that is my main task in my chain, but I have had a few situations so it was nice, says Linus Johansson about the goal.
Hear Linus talk more about the match in the player above.
A new sweaty period for Nikita Boyarkin in the Kazakh coffers. The shots to Tre Kronor with 35-5 after 40 minutes and Samuel Ersson probably had to struggle with trying to stay awake.
Hard reduction
The third period got off to the best possible start for Sweden when Fabian Zetterlund scored from close range to make it 3-0 after just over two minutes of play.
Kazakhstan then stood for a powerful reduction when Adil Beketayev from the left drawing circle thundered the puck into Ersson’s closest cross at 165 kilometers per hour.
There were then no more goals but Sweden won 3-1 and took their fourth victory out of four possible this World Cup.