<p>Losses to Canada and Czech Republic had been followed by clear wins over Denmark and Slovenia, respectively, so far for Sweden, but Italy, without a point from their four matches so far, presented Sam Hallam's side with the best chance to build some form.</p><p>The Italians held out through the opening exchanges, but Sweden found a way through with just over nine minutes played when <strong>Erik Brannstrom's centre was picked up by Carl Grundstrom, who turned and fired </strong>past Damian Clara in real style.</p><p>And Sweden put daylight between themselves and their opponents in the final minute of the first period - Carmine Buono was guilty of tripping, and on the resulting powerplay <strong>Lucas Raymond found Viggo Bjorck, who switched the play over to the right, where Ivar Stenberg was waiting to unleash a strike</strong> that gave Clara no chance.</p><p>Both sides survived a two-minute penalty early in the second period, but <em>Tre Kronor</em> stayed on top once both sides were back to full strength, adding a third eight minutes in thanks to the same trio who combined for the previous goal -<strong> Raymond and Bjorck put together a swift counter-attack before providing Stenberg with a simple finish</strong> for his second.</p><p>That's how things stayed until the end of two, while a disrupted third period saw both sides handed four minutes' worth of penalties each, but there would be no more additions to the scoresheet as Sweden closed out the 3-0 win. <strong>Magnus Hellberg recorded his first shutout of the tournament, needing to make just 12 saves to earn it.</strong></p><p>The victory takes Sweden to fourth in the Group B standings on nine points with two matches to play, the first of which comes against Norway on Saturday 23rd. Italy face Denmark on Sunday 24th in what looks to be a direct battle to avoid relegation.</p><p><strong>Follow the 2026 World Ice Hockey Championship on Flashscore.</strong></p>