Henrik Lundqvist avoids injury after practice collision with Erik Karlsson

Defenseman Erik Karlsson is as dangerous as they come on the ice and opponents always have to know where the high-scoring Swede is during the game. Apparently, he can be just as dangerous in practice.

Karlsson was attempting to chase down teammate Loui Eriksson on a breakaway during a Team Sweden practice on Monday at Bolshoy Training Rink when he crashed into star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

Lundqvist remained hunched on the ice for several minutes before leaving to watch the rest of practice. Potential disaster however was averted.

"Such things happen all the time," Par Marts, Sweden's head coach, said to reporters, via USA Today.

"Sometimes that happens," Karlsson said. "He was fine. It looked worse than it was."

Karlsson has a tendency to give 100 percent whether its during a game or just practice. It's an admirable trait but one that can occasionally cause problems. Daniel Alfredsson, Karlsson's former teammate with the Ottawa Senators, appreciated the effort but it led to some anxious moments for Team Sweden.

"That's a tough thing," Alfredsson said, "because he really wanted to catch Loui on the breakaway and threw himself down, and Henrik was trying to make the save, and they just pummeled each other. We can laugh at it now because it wasn't too serious, but it gave everyone a scare."

The top-seeded Swedes are off until Wednesday when they will face the winner of Slovenia-Austria in the quarterfinals.