Ludvig Jansson scored at 1:35 of overtime to give Sweden a 3-2 win over Czechia and stay undefeated to remain in first place of Group A. The loss was Czechia’s first of the tournament.

Coming into the game Sweden had won the last 13 meetings between the teams at the U20 level, Czechia’s most recent win, 3-1, coming on New Year’s Eve 2002.

Both teams have a day off now to prepare for this year’s New Year’s Eve. Czechia plays Germany in the early game followed by a Sweden-Canada blockbuster that might well decide first place in Group A.

The game featured two of the most notable goalies so far. Carl Lindbom entered the game with a perfect 2-0 record, no goals allowed, a 0.00 GAA, and a shutout streak of 120 minutes. Czechia’s Tomas Suchanek meanwhile, also 2-0, was the first goalie at the World Juniors to record two assists in a game last time out, and his three assists this year was also a record.

"We just wanted to keep it simple and work hard between the blue lines because they're dangerous on turnovers," said Swedish defender Adam Engstrom. "We wanted to get in on the forecheck, keep our structure in the defensive zone and we knew it would be fine. We also worked on being more disciplined and not taking as many penalties as we have been."

"I thought we played well," Lindbom added. He was the busier of the two goalies, stopping 33 of 35 shots. "The first period was not great but we came out hard in the second. We limited their chances. Overall, we played a solid game."

The first period passed without even the smallest event upsetting the void. Adam Mechura had a moderately decent chance in the early going from in close, but Lindbom was in position to make the save. He wasn’t required to make another of any consequence in the period, and at the other end Suchanek wasn’t tested at all. Shots were 7-4 for Czechia, and there were no penalties. 

But just when it seemed like Sweden would never allow a goal and Czechia would play them to a scoreless draw, the second period started with an exciting outburst. It started harmlessly enough. Petr Hauser chipped the puck past Calle Odelius and beat him to the puck. He roared in on goal and dished off to David Jiricek, who finished the play with a nice re-direct into the open side at 3:12. That ended Lindbom’s shutout streak at 143:12 to start the tournament.

Two minutes later, Lindbom's teammates responded. William Stromgren pressured Tomas Hamara behind the Czechia net, and Hamara coughed up the puck. Fabian Wagner wasted no time firing a bullet past Suchanek to tie the game. Just a minute and a half later, Sweden took their first lead when Jansson stepped in off the point and rifled a shot over Suchanek’s glove at 6:58.

Sweden was playing their usual flawless defence in the third but slowly the patient Czechs chipped away and tied the game. Lindbom made one great glove sane on Gabriel Szturc, and midway through the period a shot squirted through his pads that Noah Ostlund cleared off the line.

But after some nice puck movement Jiri Tichacek got the puck in the slot and snapped a shot over Lindbom's glove at 14:08 to make it a 2-2 game and force the overtime.

In the extra period, the Czechs started quickly, and Jiricek had two great chances to end it early. Those misses ended up being costly, as Jansson fired his second of the game on a nice deke to give Sweden the win.