(Helsinki) Sakari Manninen played heroes in overtime as Finland beat Canada 4-3 on Sunday to win gold at the World Hockey Championship.
Posted at 4:32 p.m.
On the power play, Manninen accepted a cross pass from Mikael Granlund and fired a one-timer that beat goaltender Matt Tomkins.
It was sweet revenge for Finland, who lost in overtime to Canada in the gold medal game last year.
Finland became the first team since 2013 to win gold at this tournament in front of home fans. Sweden were the last team to achieve this feat.
Granlund scored two goals in less than two minutes in the third period to put the Finns from behind and take a 2-1 lead. Joel Armia also moved the ropes with less than six minutes left to play.
Canada did not give up, however, and leveled the score thanks to the successes of Zach Whitecloud and Maxime Comtois. Dylan Cozens also flashed the red light as Mathew Barzal assisted in all three of his goals.
Finnish goalie Jussi Olkinuora stopped 19 shots and was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
Tomkins finished the matchup with 27 saves.
Czechia 8 – United States 4
The Czech Republic exploded offensively with six goals in the third period to beat the United States 8-4 and take the bronze medal.
Trailing 3-2 in the third period, David Pastrnak and David Kampf sounded the charge with two goals each to outrun the Czech Republic.
Pastrnak completed his hat trick with just 37 seconds left in the game. Jiri Cernoch, Jiri Smejkal and Roman Cervenka also scored for Czechia, who collected their first medal since 2012 after three fourth places.
Karel Vejmelka allowed three goals on eight shots and he was replaced by Marek Langhamer, who gave up only once on 16 shots. Langhamer allowed his only goal with just 79 seconds left in the game.
Karson Kuhlman found the back of the net twice for the United States, which won the bronze medal last year. Adam Gaudette and Thomas Bordeleau each added a goal.
Jeremy Swayman saved 25 of the 32 pucks he faced in front of the American net.