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.
The Italians held out through the opening exchanges, but Sweden found a way through with just over nine minutes played when Erik Brannstrom's centre was picked up by Carl Grundstrom, who turned and fired past Damian Clara in real style.
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 Lucas Raymond found Viggo Bjorck, who switched the play over to the right, where Ivar Stenberg was waiting to unleash a strike that gave Clara no chance.
Both sides survived a two-minute penalty early in the second period, but Tre Kronor 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 - Raymond and Bjorck put together a swift counter-attack before providing Stenberg with a simple finish for his second.
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. Magnus Hellberg recorded his first shutout of the tournament, needing to make just 12 saves to earn it.
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.
Follow the 2026 World Ice Hockey Championship on Flashscore.