Two games into Sweden’s World Junior tournament, we haven’t quite yet seen the promised dominance from Elias Pettersson. That’s not a knock on Pettersson, who has been one of Sweden’s best players; he just hasn’t taken over a game or been the clear best player on the ice.
Part of the issue is that he’s playing on a powerhouse Swedish team that also boasts the likes of Alex Nylander and Rasmus Dahlin. Those two currently lead Sweden in scoring with four points each through two games, but Pettersson is not far behind, with a goal in each game and an assist for three points.
Pettersson has been a key part of Sweden’s terrifying power play, which moves the puck with perfect precision and repeatedly shrunk the Czech penalty kill to the size of a postage stamp as they closed in to create scoring chances. Several of those chances came off Pettersson’s stick, as he set up mostly at the right faceoff circle, with the threat of his left-handed one-timer giving the penalty kill fits.
When Pettersson did score, however, the shot came from the left faceoff circle and it was an absolute bullet.
Here's the full clip of Pettersson goal + replays, including Dahlin's breakout and EP's zone entry. EP essentially creates the whole goal with help from Dahlin and Nylander. #Canucks #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/zoFSWeuyje
— Grady Sas (@GradySas) December 28, 2017
Pettersson gained the zone, then looped back to get the power play set up. After some passing along the top of the formation, Pettersson stepped in, patiently waited for a shooting lane to develop (all while selling head and shoulder fakes to create that lane), then ripped the puck top shelf.
It was Sweden’s second goal of the game and, when the Czech Republic scored a power play goal of their own in the second period, it became the game-winner.
Unlike Pettersson’s first goal of the tournament, this didn’t take a deflection off a defender: it went straight in. It’s that shot that has become the most surprising element of Pettersson’s game. The scouting reports raved about his intelligence, vision, playmaking, and even his two-way game, but this season he has started scoring goals seemingly at will with both his one-timer slap shot and his wrist shot.
Pettersson was particularly effective In the first period, when he had as many shots as the entire Czech team, with five. He had a quieter second and third period, only managing one more shot, but his line rarely spent much time in the defensive zone and he kept creating opportunities, forcing a couple shot blocks from the Czech defence.
Two goals and three points in two games is obviously good and scoring a goal on such an absurd shot should keep Canucks fans sated, but I’m hoping to see even more from Pettersson in this tournament. Perhaps my expectations are too high, but Pettersson himself is a big reason why those expectations are at that level.
