How Swede it is
Sweden beats Canada in shootout to win gold
Canada felt the sting of its loss to Sweden at the world championship a little more than usual thanks to the tournament format.
Nicklas Backstrom and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored in a shootout as Sweden beat Canada 2-1 on Sunday to capture gold, spoiling the Canadians’ attempt to win the title for a third straight year.
“We don’t feel like we lost a hockey game tonight, we feel like we lost a shootout,” said Canadian coach Jon Cooper. “I told our guys ‘hang your head high.’ We knew the rules going in, it was part of the format, and they bested us.
“I thought both goaltenders were exceptional but in the end it came down to a skill competition. They were better than us and in the end, they deserved to be world champs.” Backstrom, Sweden’s second shooter in the shootout, beat Canadian goaltender Calvin Pickard low to the stick side and Oliver Ekman-Larsson caught Pickard moving on Sweden’s next attempt to go up 2-0.
Sweden’s Henrik Lundqvist stopped Nathan MacKinnon, Brayden Point, Ryan O’Reilly and Mitch Marner to secure the gold.
“It’s tough,” said MacKinnon. “We couldn’t score and it’s a shootout. It’s a weird way to finish but if we won we wouldn’t be talking about it — we’d just be excited. Obviously, we’re very disappointed.”
Victor Hedman scored a short-handed goal late in the second period to give the Swedes a 1-0 lead. Lundqvist picked up the win with 42 saves.
Lundqvist joined his twin brother and team captain Joel on Sweden midway through the tournament after his New York Rangers were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs. It was Henrik’s first appearance at the world championship since 2008 and his first time playing with his brother since the pair competed together in the Swedish Elite League during the 2004-05 NHL lockout.
They hadn’t played together internationally since the 2002 world junior championship.
“It’s a very special moment for both of us, to stand out there and to pull it off,” Henrik said. “We knew we had a chance, we knew we had the team, but there’s a lot of work that needs to be done to pull it off but we did. That’s why I came here, so it’s an awesome feeling.”
O’Reilly tied the game at 1-1 with a power-play goal for Canada early in the third. Pickard stopped 40 shots.
The win is Sweden’s first in four tries against Canada since the IIHF instituted the playoff system in 1992 and its first gold medal since 2013.