World Junior 2015: Denmark scores first win in top tier, shading Switzerland in shootout

By Georg, Denmark finally did it.

Thanks to their indefatigable goalie Georg Sorensen and some sweet backhand finishes from stars Nikolaj Ehlers and Oliver Bjorkstrand during the breakaway contest, the team from a nation with fewer registered hockey players than many a major Canadian city could make the world junior championship medal round. The 4-3 shootout win over Switzerland at Air Canada Centre, Denmark's first victory in the world junior championship top tier, gives it four points in four games and a tenuous grasp of third place in Group B ahead of the Swiss (four in three) and Czech Republic (two in three), which each play on Wednesday in Toronto.

Denmark came into the tournament bearing an expectation that it would stand a strong chance of retaining a place in the 2016 world junior, especially after its team tuned up for a tournament on North American ice by finishing second at the recent World Junior A Challenge tournament in Kindersley, Saskatchewan. It's safe to say that Ehlers, Bjorkstrand, Mikkel Aagaard, Mads Ellers, Sorensen and cohorts being in a medal round position entering Day 6 is on another level.

The Danes held leads over the Czechs and Russia in their eventual shootout losses, and one could easily surmise that they were riding Sorensen's goaltending and a sporadically opportunistic offence fronted by the Halifax Mooseheads' Ehlers and Portland Winterhawks' Bjorkstrand in hope of ekeing out shootout wins. There's a grain of truth to that, although it's somewhat off-point regarding a country that gave up double-digit goal totals during its last exposure to the top tier three years ago in Edmonton and Calgary, where its most memorable moment was likely four players goofing around on a media podium after a 10-1 loss to Canada.

That overshadowed the fact the Scandinavian nation has had a steady trickle up of world-class players. Right at the forefront are Bjorkstrand, whose a breakout 50-goal year last season for the Western Hockey League's Portland Winterhawks was only one more than the 49 Ehlers scored for the Quebec League's Halifax Mooseheads on his way to being selected No. 9 overall in the NHL draft by the Winnipeg Jets and also being named rookie of the year for all of Canadian major junior hockey.

Denmark had enough resolve and skill on Tuesday to climb back from a 2-0 deficit against a Swiss opponent with San Jose Sharks rookie Mirco Mueller as the fulcrum of its defence. It shook off falling behind again on a rare soft goal allowed by Sorensen just 24 seconds after tying goal. A timely pokecheck in the offensive zone by Nick Olesen gave Mikkel Aagaard a chance to bury a shot with 4:20 left in the second period, forging a 3-3 tie.

Sorensen, who was part of that Dane squad that was overwhelmed and out of its depth in Alberta in 2012, made 14 of his 42 saves during the scoreless third period. During the 4-on-4 overtime, defenceman Victor Eskerod also made a big defensive stop to thwart a Swiss wraparound try while Sorensen was out of position.

That enabled Denmark to get into the penalty shot contest, where Ehlers and Bjorkstrand converted with backhands during the first two rounds. In the final round, Sharks pick Noah Rod tried to go in slowly to trick Sorensen into committing, but the goalie came up with the save.

The upshot is that Denmark now has to play a waiting game. Switzerland can leapfrog with any result against Sweden, which has already clinched first place in Group B and has the option to rest key players for the quarter-final. The Czech Republic would need a win (in regulation or extra time) to move ahead of Denmark.

A three-way tie is also possible if the Swiss lose in extra time and the Czechs win in extra time. In any event, the jockeying for position on Wednesday will be very interesting.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.