Sweden, Czechia deadlocked after two in battle for bronze at World Junios
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Sweden and Czechia are deadlocked 2-2 after two periods as the two countries battle for bronze at the World Juniors on Sunday.
The two teams traded power-play goals in the first period from Czechia's Jakub Stancl and Sweden's David Edstrom to enter the second frame tied.
Eduard Sale put Czechia back on top halfway through the period when he backhanded the puck over Swedish goaltender Marcus Gidlof for the one-goal lead.
The goal was the Seattle Kraken prospect's sixth of the tournament, who is looking for his third consecutive medal at the World Juniors.
Edstrom scored his second goal of the game late in the period when he tipped in a Felix Unger Sorum pass past netminder Michael Hrabal to tie the game for Sweden.
Unger Sorum's assist put him tied for the tournament lead with 10 points along with teammate Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Czechia forward Jakub Stancl.
There were no penalties in the second frame with Czechia scoring on their only man advantage in the first period and Sweden going 1-for-3 on the power play.
Sweden continues to outshoot Czechia 20-17 after two periods.
Czechia ended up in the bronze-medal game after falling to the United States 4-1 during Saturday's semifinal while Sweden suffered a heartbreaking 4-3 overtime loss to Finland in the other semifinal.
Sweden is looking for medals in back-to-back years after winning silver at the World Juniors at home last year.
After 17 years without a medal, Czechia is looking for a medal in their third consecutive year, winning bronze last season and silver in 2023.