Lasse Johansson saved all 19 shots and received the award as Tre Kronor’s best player in the World Cup opener against Germany.
In a shaky start for a team with nine World Cup debutants on the ice, it was he who made sure to save his team.
— It’s always a bit nervous in the first match and you don’t know where you stand. It’s nice to get some saves, we didn’t do the best first period, he says afterwards in the mixed zone in the Nokia Arena.
– Then it was relatively calm in the second and third period. We had very good defensive play and especially in box play, says Johansson.
Best outside the NHL
He has been called the world’s best goalkeeper outside the NHL and made his WC debut, but had a major championship behind him when he was the first goalkeeper in Sweden’s Olympic team last season.
— I think it does quite a lot. Then you were much more nervous, he says.
Oscar Lindberg scored the winning goal at the beginning of the third period when he guided Jonatan Berggren’s shot into the goal.
— I got the club on it and it turned out well. I saw it was going outside, but got the puck in. It was nice to see it go in, we had to struggle for the goal, says Lindberg.
Oscar Lindberg.”Wins that count”
The Bern forward, who took part in winning World Cup gold in both 2013 and 2017, had previously hit the post in a numerical advantage in the second period.
— We created a little, but we want to create more. It was a tight match and they shut us down quite well, says Lindberg and continues:
— It is the number of wins that counts. Then you want to play well to be able to build something good and trust your system. Hopefully we can be better in the next game.
Tre Kronor is off on Saturday before Austria awaits on Sunday evening.