Sweden has won the ice hockey world championships for the 10th time with a 2-1 victory over 2016 champions Canada. Sunday’s final in the German city of Cologne was settled by a penalty shootout.At the end of regulation, Sweden and Canada were tied 1-1. Ryan O’Reilly had equalized for Canada at the end of three periods, after Victor Hedman had put Sweden ahead.
There was no score in overtime and it was Sweden who held their nerve in the penalty shootout.
Both Nicklas Backstorm and Oliver Ekman Larsson nailed their penalties for Sweden, to the delight of their travelling fans in Cologne, with Backstorm hitting the winning shot.
Canada’s quartet of O’Reilly, Nate Mackinnon, Brayden Point and Mitch Marner all failed with their penalty attempts, handing Sweden their first world title since 2013.
Russia places third
Earlier, Russia survived a late fightback by Finland as Nikita Kucherov sealed their 5-3 win to claim bronze.
Russia raced into a 4-0 lead in the bronze-medal match with Nikita Gusev scoring twice, and Vladimir Tkachyov and Bogdan Kiselevich scoring one apiece.
jbh/cmk (AFP, AP)
