Will they succeed? The Swedes are looking for a 100% tournament. France again suffers from poor productivity

France, which has been playing well at this year’s World Cup, is suffering from poor productivity. The Swedes, on the other hand, are doing just fine, even looking for a 100% tournament. Can they do it?

Swedish hockey players can still think of a unique feat. If they beat Slovakia by three points on Tuesday, they will be 100 percent in Group B in Ostrava. Monday’s win over France, among other things, helped them to do so. But the 3-1 result was not easy to come by.

Erik Karlsson broke the 1:1 tie with a power-play goal at 41:29. Karlsson, playing in his first World Championship since 2012, took advantage of an assist from his teammate Victor Hedman, moved to the top of the circle and shot past Quentin Papillon.

“It was a tough game. The opponent did a good job and we struggled in certain phases of the game. We have to be better and I know we will be. We didn’t have enough time to pass the puck,” Fabian Zetterlund commented for the IIHF website.

The Swedes can go through the tournament without losing a single point

“We have to be faster and more alert. We were not set up properly for the game and the opponent could have punished us much more than they did. Still, we showed how strong we are and it was a good test for us,” Zetterlund added.

France played a great game against a big favourite and were finally broken only by Andre Burakovsky’s goal into an empty net. Poor productivity is the reason why the French have the weakest attack after the British. They scored only ten goals.

“We played a great game, but I’m sad for the boys. We work hard every time, but we don’t get points. I’m really proud of the way we played today. I hope we can get a better result against Germany, ” said French forward Kevin Bozon.

Both teams will finish the regular group on Tuesday. France will play Germany and the Swedes will face Slovakia. Will Tre Kronor complete their quest for full points? They could easily make it through the tournament without a loss.

Source: CT Sport, IIHF