The preliminary round had a lot of surprises, from the Americans' surprising early ouster, the return of the Czechs and Slovaks to the medal rounds, and Sweden turning the table on last year's comeback kings Russia in the final game to claim first in the group. Before we get going, why not just have a look at that epic Sweden/Russia New Year's Eve game, from a totally pro-Swedish perspective:
Here's a quick look back at the games, players of the game and the big scorers so far in the tournament:
Game
Date
Home
Score
Visitors
Home POG
Visitor POG
1
Dec 26
1 : 8
Alexander Ruuttu
Mark Stone
2
Dec 26
4 : 9
Nikita Jevpalovs
Filip Forsberg
3
Dec 26
3 : 11
Mathias Bau-Hansen
Charlie Coyle
4
Dec 26
0 : 3
Tim Wolf
Andrei Vasilevskiy
5
Dec 27
7 : 0
Tomas Hertl
Sebastian Feuk
6
Dec 27
3 : 1
Juraj Simboch
Kristers Gudlevskis
7
Dec 28
1 : 4
Jarred Tinordi
Sami Aittokallio
8
Dec 28
4 : 3 (SO)
Max Friberg
Joël Vermin
9
Dec 28
5 : 0
Freddie Hamilton
Petr Mrazek
10
Dec 28
3 : 1
Andrei Makarov
Tomas Jurco
11
Dec 29
2 : 10
Nicklas Jensen
Brandon Gormley
12
Dec 29
0 : 14
Zegmus Girgensons
Yevgeni Kuznetsov
13
Dec 30
2 : 5
Bill Arnold
Petr Holik
14
Dec 30
9 : 1
Erik Thorell
Michal Toman
15
Dec 30
10 : 1
Miikka Salomäki
Patrick Bjorkstrand
16
Dec 30
5 : 3
Christoph Bertschy
Arturs Kuzmenkovs
17
Dec 31
0 : 4
Tomas Nosek
Mikael Granlund
18
Dec 31
6 : 4
Tomas Matousek
Tanner Richard
19
Dec 31
3 : 2
Brendan Gallagher
Jacob Trouba
20
Dec 31
3 : 4 (OT)
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Jonas Brodin
After the jump, we'll recap some of the stats through the preliminary round:
Top 20 Scorers
Rk
Player
Team
GP
G
A
Pts
1
Mark Stone
4
7
2
9
2
Nikita Gusev
4
3
6
9
2
Yevgeni Kuznetsov
4
3
6
9
4
Max Friberg
4
7
1
8
5
Teemu Pulkkinen
4
5
3
8
6
Ryan Strome
4
3
5
8
7
Jonathan Huberdeau
4
1
7
8
8
Mikael Granlund
4
1
6
7
9
Sebastian Collberg
4
3
3
6
9
Miikka Salomäki
4
3
3
6
9
Erik Thorell
4
3
3
6
12
Tomas Jurco
4
1
5
6
12
Ludvig Rensfeldt
4
1
5
6
14
Brett Connolly
4
4
1
5
14
Charlie Coyle
4
4
1
5
14
Joakim Nordstrom
4
4
1
5
17
Joel Armia
4
3
2
5
18
Bill Arnold
4
2
3
5
18
Brandon Gormley
4
2
3
5
18
Rickard Rakell
4
2
3
5
18
Jason Zucker
4
2
3
5
"Hands of Stone" is a recurring theme throughout the tournament so far, but its linemate Jonathan Huberdeau who is setting him up most often, and Ryan Strome is cashing in big time as well. Of note, Yevgeni Kuznetsov has zero points against playoff teams in this tournament, while I've deducted one goal from the Sebastian Collberg compared to the IIHF's rankings because they count the game-winning shootout goals as a goal which is quite obviously stupid. Max Friberg is tied with Mark Stone for the goal scoring lead, while Brandon Gormley is the only defenceman to break into the top 20... there hasn't been a standout offensive performer from the blueline as of yet, though Gormley's performance to date is definitely notable.
Goaltending Statistics
Rk
Name
Team
GP
Min
SOG
GA
Svs
SV%
GAA
SO
1
Sami Aittokallio
2
120:00
75
1
74
98.67
0.50
1
2
Andrei Vasilevskiy
3
182:44
125
4
121
96.80
1.31
2
3
Scott Wedgewood
2
120:00
58
2
56
96.55
1.00
1
4
Mark Visentin
2
120:00
51
3
48
94.12
1.50
0
5
Petr Mrazek
4
240:00
132
11
121
91.67
2.75
1
6
Juraj Simboch
3
180:00
94
8
86
91.49
2.67
0
7
Lukas Meili
2
113:31
82
9
73
89.02
4.76
0
8
Jack Campbell
3
177:36
88
10
78
88.64
3.38
0
9
Tim Wolf
3
130:14
56
7
49
87.50
3.22
0
10
Kristers Gudlevskis
3
177:02
126
16
110
87.30
5.42
0
11
Christopher Gibson
2
120:00
67
9
58
86.57
4.50
0
12
Johan Gustafsson
3
186:42
66
10
56
84.85
3.21
0
13
Sebastian Feuk
4
210:21
181
34
147
81.22
9.70
0
Yeah, Sweden is going to need a lot better from Gustafsson in the semifinals and finals, but he leads all goaltenders in the wins statistic despite his dismal performance to date. Goaltending differences definitely stand out as a reason why the Czechs and Slovaks made it over the Americans and Swiss this year. Also, poor Sebastian Feuk... he never stood a chance.
Loading comments...