Since the national team captain Ulf Lundberg chose to weed out several meritorious veterans ahead of Sweden’s World Cup comeback, Hanna Olsson, 23, is one of the most experienced and most important players.
The young veteran stepped forward right at the start of his fifth World Cup tournament.
Her solo goal to make it 2–1 was the prettiest of the night, but the 1–1 equalizer in the opener, just 30 seconds after Denmark’s lead, was the most important.
— It was very important. They rode the wave of the crowd support they had here, they were completely crazy in the stands, says Hanna Olsson about the loud home supporters, 1,496 spectators in a well-filled Iscenter Nord in Fredrikshamn.
In the second period, the Swedes made the winning move with two goals in 21 seconds.
“Not there”
The lead goal, 2–1, came on a neat solo raid from Hanna Olsson.
— I got a clearance at the edge and feel that I have good speed with me. I just try to go around the puck, but the goalie stays, so I just tried to get the puck with my skates and send it on goal. The goalkeeper wasn’t there so it was nice, she says.
In the third period, she completed her hat trick with the 5–2 goal in game five against three.
But even though Hanna Olsson scored a hat-trick, fixed a couple of Danish expulsions and was always active, she doesn’t think she played her best international match.
“Personally, this means a lot, it’s been a long journey to get here with setbacks along the way,” she says of the cruciate ligament injury two years ago that required another operation this spring.
“It’s nice that the points are rolling in, but I still have a bit to go game-wise before I’m satisfied,” she says.
Celebrated the talent
The national team captain Ulf Lundberg was satisfied with a lot, above all the victory and five goals scored, but…
— We do many things well, for example the way we grind Denmark down, the way we work in our attacking game and are patient. It’s good that we score two goals in the power play, but we need to tighten up the game. We let too much go, we have to work on that, he says.
Lundberg also paid tribute to 17-year-old back talent Mira Jungåker, HV71, who was booked for two passing points.
She gained a lot of confidence with games in the first power play lineup.
— She was born in 2005 and plays this mature, stable and brave. A really good WC debut at senior level, says Lundberg.