The showdown of the goalies. When Sweden decided to give draft eligible Jesper Wallstedt his first start of his World Juniors career, all goaltender lovers must have began to salivate. A game where they could watch both Yaroslav Askarov and Wallstedt simultaneously? Oh yes, come to mama.
Both goaltenders are considered generational talents and the clear positional leaders of their respective draft classes. Tonight, it took 37 seconds before one of them seemed to have lost his possibility of a shutout.
Physical captain Vasili Podkolzin drove the puck toward the goal and pushed himself past Edmonton Oilers’ prodigy Philip Broberg, who gave up way too much room in front of Wallstedt.