OTTAWA - The Ottawa Senators announced the club would loan goaltender Robin Lehner to Sweden’s national junior team for the 2011 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship set to take place in Buffalo, N.Y., from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5. Lehner will join Team Sweden’s preparation camp on Saturday, Dec. 18.

Lehner, 19, has a record this season of one win and five losses in seven games with Ottawa’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Binghamton Senators. He earned his first professional shutout, making 33 saves in a 5-0 home win over Syracuse on Nov. 7.

A native of Goteborg, Sweden, Lehner was recalled by the Senators on an emergency basis on Oct. 16 and made his NHL debut that evening at Montreal, stopping all three shots he faced in the first 4:42 of the third period, while Brian Elliott replaced a broken skate. He also served as Elliott’s back-up for seven NHL contests this season.

Lehner, the Senators’ second of two second-round picks (46th overall) in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, could miss up to seven AHL games if Sweden plays on to the last day of the world championship. Sweden is playing in Group B with Canada, Russia, the Czech Republic and Norway. They open on Dec. 26 against Norway.

Team Sweden will also play two exhibition games. They will face Canada on Tuesday, Dec. 21, in Toronto and Switzerland on Thursday, Dec. 23, in St. Catharines, Ont.