Nylander two goals, assist lifts unbeaten Sweden 3-1 over winless Finland
MONTREAL — Sweden and its star forward Alexander Nylander keep rolling along at the world junior hockey championship.
The younger brother of Toronto Maple Leafs rookie Williams Nylander had two goals and an assist as Sweden (3-0-0) defeated Finland 3-1 on Thursday night and pushed the defending champion Finns (0-3-0) to the brink of elimination from medal contention in the 10-team tournament.
The Swedes, who were shut out of the medals at the last two world juniors, avenged a loss to Finland in the semifinals of last year’s tournament, not to mention its defeat on home ice in the 2014 final.
“Of course, we had revenge from last year when we didn’t come home with a medal, so this year we’re really focusing on winning a medal and hopefully it’s gold,” said Nylander, whose four goals and three assists in the first three games left him one point behind Russia’s Kirill Kaprizov for the tournament scoring lead.