Sweden twice came back from behind against Canada but lost the world championship opener 3–5 in Fribourg. Canada sealed the win with two third-period goals.
Tre Kronor fielded several young players at BCF Arena. Viggo Björck, 18 years and 64 days old, became Sweden’s youngest world championship player ever. Canada took the lead early through John Tavares and Ryan O’Reilly.
In the second period Sweden turned the game around. Jacob Larsson, Lucas Raymond and Mattias Ekholm scored to tie the game at 3–3. Ivar Stenberg had a goal disallowed for high stick and received a minor penalty for cross-checking.
In the third period Jakob Silfverberg’s stick broke and Canada countered for a 4–3 lead through Connor Brown. Dylan Cozens made it 5–3. Sweden’s next match is against Denmark on Sunday.
