2025 IIHF World Championship: USA to play in gold medal game for first time since 1934

The United States are off to the gold medal game for the first time at the IIHF Men’s World Hockey Championship since 1934 after beating Sweden 4-2 in Stockholm on Saturday.

The Americans have previously won gold at this tournament back in 1933. USA won the 1960 Olympics, which counted as a World Championship victory at the time, but was not a standalone event like 1933 was.

USA will play either Switzerland or Denmark in the final on Sunday. Neither of those teams has won gold at this event.

Sweden will look to win their 19th bronze medal and 49th medal total, which would put them second behind Canada with 53 for the most all time. Sweden won the bronze in 2024 after beating Canada for their first medal since winning gold in 2017 and 2018.

The Americans were in full control early, taking a 2-0 lead and a 13-3 shot advantage into the first intermission. Defenseman Brady Skjei and forward Cutter Gauthier scored early to give USA a big advantage that was ultimately doubled by Conor Garland and Mikey Eyssimont in the second.

Sweden would find some life with a pair of goals just 41 seconds apart in the third, however. It started when William Nylander scored in tight off a Rasmus Andersson feed at 46:32. Then, on the next shift, Elias Lindholm made it 4-2 to get the Swedish crowd back into it.

Unfortunately for the Swedes, the comeback effort was all for nothing. With nine minutes to go, Jackson LaCombe fired a hard shot to make it 5-2, putting the game out of reach and handing the Americans a historic victory for the program.

Here’s a look at the top players from the two teams:

Sweden

#28 Elias Lindholm, C (Boston Bruins): Lindholm had plenty of great chances in the first 40 minutes but he couldn’t convert. But, suddenly, with the Swedes holding momentum in the third, he fired a knuckler past Jeremy Swayman to make it 4-2, giving his team some life late in the game. That’s exactly what they needed from one of the most important players on the Swedish team. It wasn’t enough to spark the full comeback, but he looked great, regardless.

#88 William Nylander, RW (Toronto Maple Leafs): The Swedes were good throughout the round-robin, but they were missing another triggerman. Nylander was the perfect guy for the job, and he scored the first Swedish goal to give the team some life. He spent a ton of time buzzing around the net, looking for high-quality chances. Nylander finally found one in close to change the course of the game.

USA

#76 Brady Skjei D (Nashville Predators): Skjei has had a great tournament for USA – he’s been the best American defender behind Zach Werenski. Today, he scored a goal and added an assist to give USA a nice advantage early in the first. The 31-year-old had a difficult first season in Nashville, but he has played two great games in a row to earn a spot in DFO’s standouts articles. He hadn’t registered a point before today, instead showing his dominance in his own zone.

#2 Jackson LaCombe, D (Anaheim Ducks): What a night for the young defender. He scored a goal and added an assist in one of the best games we’ve seen him play at this level. His 5-2 goal helped put the Americans far ahead late and took the steam out of Sweden’s sails at a time when the Americans kept finding themselves chasing the puck. Defensively, he didn’t let the Swedes get too close to Swayman, either.

#19 Cutter Gauthier, LW (Anaheim Ducks): Gauthier’s 2-0 goal came shortly after a faceoff, but it was only fitting he scored after starting the game as USA’s top forward. He was everywhere on the ice, chasing after pucks, banging bodies and getting shots toward the net. Gauthier had a quiet few games after an excellent start but his tournament has been an overwhelming success.

#10 Matty Beniers, C (Seattle Kraken): Beniers was USA’s best two-way center today. He had an assist on the 4-0 goal, but he was more useful as a support forward in his own zone. Beniers has been one of USA’s better players in this tournament, even if his stats might not be as impressive as some of the team’s other top-six players. Beniers is so committed to winning every battle at both ends, and today was a perfect example of that.

#12 Shane Pinto, C (Ottawa Senators): After starting the tournament with an illness, Pinto has become one of USA’s top players. He had a goal and a pair of assists today to give him 10 points in seven games, and he’s now up to three multi-point effort. His only pointless outing so far was when Switzerland beat the Americans 3-0. What a showing for the young Sen, who