It was Toronto defender Oliver Ekman-Larsson who scored the 4-2 empty-net goal at the BCF Arena in Fribourg, but it was Ivar Stenberg's 3-1 goal halfway through the second period that proved decisive in the fateful match against Slovakia.
Stenberg feinted defenseman Frantisek Gajdos onto his heels before sending the puck into the net off the crossbar. It was his fourth World Cup goal.
"A little bit of instinct. I get a good puck from (Lucas) Raymond to work with. I come in with pretty good speed, so it's a little bit of instinct and I want to challenge him. Very happy that it happened in a game like this," says Stenberg.
"Haven't talked to him"
In the stands was national team legend Mats Sundin, who was recently appointed senior advisor to Toronto's new general manager, John Chayka. The Canadian club will have the first pick in this summer's NHL draft.
"It's great that he's here. I haven't talked to him," Stenberg says of Sundin's presence.
Toronto is expected to select Canadian forward Gavin McKenna, who is ranked number one in the draft.
Or can Ekman-Larsson convince management to choose Stenberg instead?
"I don't really know if that's how it works," says Tre Kronor's captain.
Will you say anything about him if they ask?
"Yes, that's clear," says the veteran defender with a smile.
"Is so smart"
He and many others in Tre Kronor praise Stenberg for the solo goal against Slovakia.
"He's fantastic. He's so smart, he sees that the defenseman turns his skates and pulls the puck back. He's skilled at that. We've seen that in the SHL and at the JVM. Now it's another level," says Ekman-Larsson.
In addition to Stenberg, JVM gold hero Viggo Björk, 18, has also scored in the World Cup before. Now Anton Frondell joins that group. Against Slovakia, he equalized to make it 1-1 after Sweden had been outplayed for a long time.
"Great. It's always fun to score and always fun to score first. Even in a situation like this, when the match was tied. It felt nice and important," says the 19-year-old.
Frondell also praised Stenberg for the solo goal.
"It's a candidate for the most beautiful goal of the tournament," says the forward.
