Sweden Tops Group A with 6-3 Win Over US at World Juniors

ST. PAUL, Minn. Sweden defeated the United States 6-3 on Wednesday night in the group stage finale of the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, securing an unbeaten record and the top spot in Group A.

Lucas Pettersson and Eddie Genborg each scored two goals for Sweden, which opened the scoring in the first period when Casper Juustovaara deflected a shot past American goaltender Brady Knowling. The Swedes extended their lead to 5-1 by the end of the second period before adding one more in the third through Ivar Stenberg. Love Harenstam made 28 saves in net for the victory.

Chase Reid, Will Zellers and Teddy Stiga scored for the United States, which suffered its first loss in four tournament games. Knowling, making his debut between the pipes, faced 34 shots in the contest. The Americans had entered the matchup with a perfect 3-0 record, including a 6-5 comeback win over Slovakia on Monday where James Hagens scored twice to rally from a two-goal deficit.

Both teams arrived at the Xcel Energy Center with identical 3-0 marks, setting up a decisive clash for Group A supremacy. Sweden had posted high-scoring wins earlier, including an 8-1 rout of Germany with four power-play goals and...