ST. PAUL, Minn. — Anaheim Ducks prospect Lucas Pettersson netted two third-period goals, leading Sweden past Switzerland 4-2 in preliminary play of the World Junior Championship on Sunday.
Pettersson, selected No. 35 by the Ducks in 2024, broke a tie at 6:28 of the third period, finishing a setup from Liam Danielsson and Eric Nilson to put Sweden ahead for good. He added an empty-net goal with 47 seconds left as Switzerland pressed late with the extra attacker.
Sweden opened the scoring 53 seconds into the game when Nilson beat his man off a pass from Leo Sahlin Wallenius. Switzerland answered midway through the first when Beni Waidacher tied the score at 14:27 following a setup by Leon Muggli and Daniil Ustinkov.
The Swiss took their only lead late in the second period when Lars Steiner scored at 18:22, snapping a shot past Love Harenstam to make it 2-1.
Momentum shifted early in the third. Viggo Bjorck tied the score 57 seconds into the period, finishing a play from Alfons Freij and Anton Frondell before Sweden pushed the pace for the remainder of regulation.
Harenstam finished with 21 saves on 23 shots for Sweden, which held a 23-20 edge in shots. Elijah Neuenschwander stopped 19 shots for Switzerland.
Sweden will face the United States on Wednesday, and Switzerland will play Germany on Tuesday.
Finland 8, Latvia 0: Emil Hemming scored twice as Finland cruised to a shutout in preliminary-round play.
Finland struck early and never relented, holding Latvia to only four shots on goal while scoring three times in the opening period to take control.
Hemming opened the scoring at 4:11 of the first period, finishing a pass from Matias Vanhanen to put the Finns ahead. Finland doubled the lead less than two minutes later when Jasper Kuhta scored his first goal of the tournament, slipping a shot through the legs of Mikus Vecvanags to make it 2-0.
Max Westergard added another late in the period as Finland carried a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.
The Finns continued to pull away in the second period. Hemming scored again on a two-man advantage after consecutive Latvian penalties, and Joona Saarelainen followed later in the period to extend the lead to five.
Finland added three more goals in the third period. Roope Vesterinen scored early, Heikki Ruohonen followed midway through the period and Lasse Boelius capped the scoring with 9:29 remaining.
Petteri Rimpinen stopped all four shots he faced to earn the shutout for Finland, which finished with a 27-4 edge in shots. Vecvanags made 22 saves for Latvia despite facing steady pressure throughout.
Finland continues preliminary play against Czechia on Monday. Latvia faces Denmark on Tuesday.
