CALGARY, ALBERTA - Mika Zibanejad scored on a breakaway at 10:09 of overtime to give Sweden its second world junior hockey title, 1-0 over Russia on Thursday night.
Zibanejad stole the puck from Nikita Gusev at the blue line, broke in on goalie Andrei Makarov and scored on a backhander, giving Sweden its first world juniors title since 1981.
"He came in on the breakaway, and I knew he was going to score. He told me this morning he was going to finish this game off," Sweden's Jeremy Boyce Rotevall said.
Zibanejad backed up his prediction by beating a seemingly unstoppable Makarov, who made 57 saves.
"I told [Rotevall] before the overtime, too, so it was good to get that goal," Zibanejad said. "You have to decide if you want to win this. In the morning, it was a joke, but obviously it's not a joke anymore."
Zibanejad's goal came after the Swedes dominated the game in every facet except the scoreboard. Sweden outshot Russia 58-17 -- including an eye-popping 39-4 through two periods.
Swedish goalie Johan Gustafsson, a 2010 sixth-round draft pick of the Wild, got the shutout with 17 saves. He came up big with 32 seconds left in the third, robbing Gusev.
"This team is something special," Gustafsson said. "... It's hard to describe the feeling right now, but it's amazing to stand here with the gold medal with these guys."
Bronze medal Canada 4, Finland 0: Mark Visentin stopped a second-period penalty shot and made 27 saves in Canada's victory over Finland.
