Edmonton Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm continued his strong start to the 2026 IIHF World Championship, recording his third goal and his first assist of the tournament in Sweden's 6-0 win over Slovenia.
The win came amid a shaky-but-steady start to the tournament for Sweden. Despite losing two of their opening three games prior to Wednesday's clash, Sweden lost to Canada in their opener by only two goals while pulling off two rallies. They also lost to Czechia by just one goal, though they went down 3-0 quite early in the game.
For Slovenia, the loss was another startling drop back to earth. Like how Slovenia dropped their contest against Norway by a 4-0 scoreline following an overtime win against Czechia, this loss to Sweden came off the heels of an overtime loss to Slovakia. One could argue that those were valuable results for Slovenia, but it's the big losses that have failed to keep the team from building significant momentum.
Sweden opened the scoring over three minutes into the first period, with Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond recording the opening tally. The assists were provided by Philadelphia Flyers winger Carl Grundstrom and Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
With under a minute to go in the opening frame, former Montreal Canadien Jacob de la Rose extended Sweden's lead to 2-0; the assists came from Ekholm and Vancouver Canucks forward Linus Karlsson. The goal acted as de la Rose's first at the 2026 World Championship.
But just six minutes into the second period, de la Rose recorded his second goal of the tournament off an assist from Karlsson. A minute later, former Flyer Robert Hagg added Sweden's fourth goal of the game, with the assists coming from Ekman-Larsson and Chicago Blackhawks forward Anton Frondell.
A minute past the midway point of the game, Raymond added his second goal of the game while on the power play. Ekman-Larsson recorded the primary assist, which served as his fifth of the tournament, while Frölunda HC winger Ivar Stenberg added the secondary assist.
With just under three minutes to go in the middle frame, Ekholm recorded his third goal of the tournament off assists from Frondell and New York Islanders forward Simon Holmstrom.
Relevant statistics and facts
Sweden outshot Slovenia by a 45-16 margin, which included respective 14-4 and 17-3 first and second-period shot on goal counts.
Three Swedish skaters recorded at least five shots on goal.
Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom earned the shutout for Sweden, recording saves on each of the 16 shots that he faced.
HDD Jesenice goaltender Zan Us was in net for Slovenia. He recorded 39 saves against 45 shots faced, resulting in a 0.867 save percentage.
What's next?
With the win, Sweden built a three point lead over Norway and Slovenia for the fourth knockout round spot available in Group A. The Swedes also sit just two points back of Slovakia for third in the group; they'll have a chance to continue their pursuit of a knockout round spot when they take on Italy on Friday, May 22 at 2:20 P.M. Eastern Time.
Slovenia will look to bounce back from the loss when they take on Canada. The game will take place on May 22 at 10:20 A.M. Eastern Time.
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