Sweden wins gold at home, U.S. takes bronze in World Championships

Henrik Sedin of Vancouver helped Sweden, his native country, win the gold medal in the IIHF World Championship on Sunday in Stockholm. He had two goals and an assists as the Sweden beat the Swiss 5-1.

Switzerland had been 9-0 in the tournament. And Roman Josi, a Swiss defenseman who plays for the Nashville Predators, was the tournament MVP.

Jhonas Enroth, Sweden's goalie who plays for the Buffalo Sabres, stopped 26 shots.

BRONZE FOR U.S.

The U.S. took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Craig Smith and Paul Stastny in the first and 16th minute, but the Finns rallied to tie the game on two third-period goals by Lauri Korpikoski of the Phoenix Coyotes and, after a scoreless overtime, it went to a shootout.

The U.S. won the four-round shootout 2-1 as Alex Galchenyuk, the Americans third shooter, scored to tie it 1-1. Then when the the sudden-victory round began, Galchenyuk went first for the U.S. and scored again.

The Wild's Mikael Granlund had an assist on Finland's tying goal but missed on his turn in the shootout.

AMERICAN STATS

The U.S. team went 7-3 in the World Championships, losing to Russia and Finland by a goal in the preliminary round and to Switzerland 3-0 in the semifinals.

Paul Stastny of the Colorado Avs led the U.S. in scoring with seven goals and eight assists for 15 points. He was named one of the U.S. team's top three players. The other two were forward Craig Smith of Nashville and defenseman Justin Faulk of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Faulk, a South St. Paul native who played at UMD in college, had six assists and was a plus-1 for the tournament. He also averaged 21:17 minutes per game.

None of the other Minnesotans did too much for the U.S. team.

Drew LeBlanc, St. Cloud State's Hobey Baker winner this past season as a senior, played in only six games after being a late addition. He had three assists, was a plus-1 and had seven shots.

Danny Kristo, the former UND player from Eden Prairie, had one goal and two assists, was a minus-1 and had eight shots.

Eric Johnson, an Avs defenseman, had two goals and two asists for four points. He was a plus-5 and had 11 shots and averaged nearly 18 minutes.

Defenseman Jamie McBain of the Carolina Hurricanes had two assists and was a minus-2. He averaged 10 minutes per game.