The United States won the gold medal at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships by defeating Sweden 6-2 in Gothenburg on Friday.
This is the sixth time the Americans have claimed top honors in the prestigious competition and the first victory since the 2017 edition.
• Also read: World Junior Championships: Czech Republic wins bronze
• Also read: World Juniors: Here are the eight times Canada missed the medal round
Isaac Howard was the one who emerged victorious in this hopeless match. The Tampa Bay Lightning contender scored two goals in the second period.
His first goal, scored by sliding the puck between goalkeeper Hugo Havelid's legs, put his team back in the lead. Howard then caught the masked Swede from a tight angle. That goal proved to be a game-winner as Jonathan Lekkerimaki reduced the deficit to one goal before the end of the second period.
Otto Stenberg had equalized in the opening moments of this period, while Gabriel Perreault scored the first goal for the Americans in the first period.
A dream
Defenseman Zeev Buium gave the winners a two-goal lead in the third period and Ryan Leonard ended the hopes of the fans in attendance by scoring in the final minutes of the game. Perreault received assists on both of these wins. Rutger McGroarty completed the goal into an empty net.
Back to Howard: These were his sixth and seventh goals of the tournament. He ended up at the top of the competition's top scorers list together with Lekkerimaki.
“This is an absolutely incredible moment,” Howard told TSN. I have never experienced something like that. I love all my teammates with love. We did an excellent job.”
“It's the kind of moment you dream about and it's unreal,” he added of his two goals.
Another disappointment
This is the twelfth time in 14 finals that the Swedes have had to settle for the silver medal. The Scandinavian country's last triumph dates back to 2012. The club also failed on just as many occasions in its attempt to win in its home country for the seventh time. It was also the third time Sweden played the final in front of their fans.
The Swedes were obviously very frustrated with the situation at the end of the game and decided to shake up the cage of future gold medalists. This allowed Montreal Canadiens fans to see what talent Lane Hutson has. The defenseman celebrated the final seconds of the game in the locker room before returning to the ice to celebrate with his teammates.
“We went through a lot during this tournament,” Hutson said. It's really special to celebrate this moment. There is no one who has given up on this team.
Hutson, like his teammate Cutter Gauthier, was selected to the World Championship All-Star team. The other ice hockey players selected for this individual award are Czech Jiri Kulich and Swedes Havelid, Theo Lindstein and Lekkerimaki. The latter was also named the best player of the competition.