Sweden has won bronze for the second straight year at the IIHF Men’s World Hockey Championship, beating Denmark 6-2 to win on home ice in Stockholm.
That’s the 19th in the team’s history and their 49th medal overall, putting them in sole possession of second all-time. Canada is the only team to have 50 medals, leading the way at 53.
Denmark, meanwhile, finished fourth for the best finish in team history.
The first period was quite reserved, with Sweden outshooting Denmark 6-4. The second period was much more wide open, though. Mikael Backlund scored a pair of goals three minutes apart to make it a 2-0 goal before the halfway point of the game. Marcus Johansson scored his first of two at 37:09 to make it 3-0, and Lucas Raymond converted on a shorthanded breakaway at 42:55 to give Sweden a big 4-0 lead.
But the Danes would show some life with a pair of goals three minutes apart. First, Nick Olesen scored at 43:15 on the power play before finding Nikolas Ehlers for the 4-2 goal. The second marker seemed to spark the Danes, who suddenly had all the momentum.
Sadly for the co-hosts, Johansson and Mika Zibanejad scored goals seven minutes apart to make it a 6-2 contest, preventing the Danes from winning their first ever medal.
Here’s a look at the top performers from the bronze medal game:
Denmark
#24 Nikolaj Ehlers, LW (Winnipeg Jets): If anyone was going to get the team going today, it was Ehlers. The Danes needed some life in the third period, and he did a great job of setting up Olesen before scoring one of his own. It was all in vain in the end, but the Danes wouldn’t have gotten near this far if it weren’t for the stylings of the pending UFA. Will this tournament boost his salary this summer? Probably not, but it was great seeing him join his team despite a disappointing playoff exit.
#95 Nick Olesen, RW: Olesen scored the biggest goal in Danish hockey history on Thursday when he eliminated Canada, and he followed it up today with an excellent two-point game. He scored the 4-1 goal to give his team some life and then assisted on Ehlers’ 4-2 goal to bring the team even closer. Olesen finished the tournament with 12 points in 10 games, which is incredible given he never had more than three points in a single tournament. What a breakout event for a guy who did so much heavy lifting all tournament long.
Sweden
#11 Mikael Backlund, C (Calgary Flames): Backlund has had an excellent tournament, but his two-goal game today will go down as one of the best he has had on the international stage ever. He knows how to get himself in the right spot at the right time, and that’s what he did on the 1-0 goal after winning the faceoff and getting himself right near the crease. His second goal then came on an excellent feed from Emil Heineman, making it 2-0 before the halfway point.
#6 Adam Larsson, D (Seattle Kraken): Larsson’s pass on the 1-0 goal was a beauty, outlasting the Danish defenders to wait until he found an open spot. Larsson had three points in the round robin, but it was more of his physical, shutdown play that earned him attention the rest of the way. He might not be a big point producer, but he knows how to get the puck into high-quality areas.
#90 Marcus Johansson, LW (Minnesota Wild): MoJo saved his best game for last. He scored twice, with his second goal proving to be incredibly important in an effort to keep Denmark from completing a comeback. Johansson was the team’s primary shooter on the power play, and while his second goal was a bit more of a garbage rebounder, it was still a smart play on his end to close the gap and get in close.
#93 Mika Zibanejad, RW (New York Rangers): Zibanejad’s points came late, but his goal and an assist helped to put the game out of reach. The Rangers forward wanted a bit more to happen during the NHL regular season, but he went home to Stockholm and delivered an excellent tournament performance on New York’s top line. He was never Sweden’s best player, but he was consistently a play-driving threat.
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