Sweden scored five even-strength first-period goals en route to an 8-1 victory over Kazakhstan on Friday night. Coach Magnus Havelid's squad currently tops Group B with a perfect record through two games.

It was a rough welcome back to the IIHF World Junior Championship for the newly promoted Kazakhs, who last competed in the elite division in 2020 in Czechia. The Central Asian republic was outshot 52-16 in its TD Place Arena opener.

Anton Wahlberg paced Sweden with four points. Epitomizing a balanced attack, more than half of the Swedish skaters registered at least one point. Clinical efficiency was their watchword.

Wahlberg offered a balanced perspective: "It was a good game. I think it's a little bit harder to get focused or motivated for this type of game, but it's really good. I think we played a good 45 minutes. I think in the third period it was a bit too sloppy, too many turnovers, but overall, a well-executed game."
 

Victor Eklund, a potential top-10 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, scored his first World Junior goal at 5:53 as the 18-year-old forward deflected Tom Willander’s shot past goalie Vladimir Nikitin. The Kazakh starter surely got some sympathy from local fans as a 2023 seventh-round pick of the Ottawa Senators.

"It's amazing," Eklund said. "I just tried to go to the net and then got the tip."

The Swedes would then pile up three goals in just over four minutes.

At 9:20, David Edstrom doubled Sweden’s lead on a similar play, as he tipped Viggo Gustafsson’s point shot through Nikitin. Linus Eriksson made it 3-0 at 11:58, converting a centering pass from David Granberg from behind the net. Less than two minutes later, in the wake of a persistent Swedish forecheck, Felix Nilsson sailed a wrister down the middle that bulged the twine.

After some gritty work by Eklund down low, Zeb Forsfjall fed Wahlberg in the left faceoff circle for the fifth Juniorkronorna goal with 13 seconds ldft in the first period.

"I play with good players and they made it look easy out there," said Wahlberg, a Malmo product who now plays for the Rochester Americans as a Buffalo Sabres prospect. "Just trying to play the right way."

The Swedes eased off the gas pedal in the second period. Kazakh frustration mounted as defender Beibarys Orazov was sent off for roughing after tackling Isac Hedqvist in the neutral zone. On the ensuing power play, Wahlberg went bar down for a 6-1 lead at 12:18.

The Ottawa fans cheered lustily for the Kazakhs when they finally broke Swedish goalie Marcus Gidlof's shutout bid with 2:32 left in the second period. Nikita Sitnikov, after a neat bit of stickhadling in the corner, found an unguarded Artur Gross in front, and he backhanded in his own rebound before whooping it up.

That was as good as it got for the underdogs. In the third period, Oscar Vuollet and Granberg rounded out the scoring for Sweden.

Looking ahead to facing Switzerland, Wahlberg said: "We usually have hard games against them, especially last year in the quarter-finals [a 3-2 overtime win]. So we know what to expect."

A Swedish win over Kazakhstan seems about as inevitable as snow in Ottawa. This was the eighth consecutive time the Swedes have prevailed, dating back to 1998, by an aggregate of 67 to 14. The most lopsided result was on New Year’s Eve 1999, as the Swedes – headlined by Daniel and Henrik Sedin – prevailed 13-1 on home ice in Umea.

It’s a dominance that extends to other IIHF tournaments, too. The Swedes have never lost to Kazakhstan at the Olympics, World Championships, or U18 Worlds either.