Sweden Wins Ice Hockey World Championships

Sweden ended a 27-year jinx on home teams winning the ice hockey world championships, beating Switzerland 5-1 on Sunday for its ninth title.

Vancouver Canucks star Henrik Sedin had two goals and an assist, and Buffalo Sabers goalie Jhonas Enroth made 26 saves in front of a jubilant crowd to help Sweden become the first team to win the title on home ice since the Soviet Union in 1986.

Switzerland earned its first medal in 60 years and its first silver at the tournament.

Simon Hjalmarrson, Philadelphia's Erik Gustafsson and Dallas' Loui Eriksson also scored for Sweden. Romas Josi had the lone goal for Switzerland.

The young Swiss team came out aggressively, scoring in the fifth minute of the first period after Josi skated in from the blue line and backhanded the puck past Enroth.

But Sweden then took over, scoring twice in the first period and using the edge to dominate the game.

"We were slow out of the gates," Swedish defenseman Henrik Tallinder said. "But after the second goal I felt we had control over the game. The Swiss haven't had many times they've been down ... so we could play their game against them."

Switzerland won nine straight games before the final, allowing only 11 goals before the drubbing by Sweden.

"Right up until the end I thought it was a lot closer than it was," Swiss forward Ryan Gardner said. (The) score's not indicative of how hard we've worked."

Switzerland's last medal at the worlds was a bronze in 1953, and that was only after the Czechoslovakian team left the tournament to mourn the death of their president.

In the third-place game, the United States beat Finland 3-2 in a shootout for its first medal in nine years. Montreal's Alex Galchenyuk scored consecutive goals in the shootout for the Americans, and Nashville's Craig Smith and Colorado's Paul Stastny had first-period goals.

John Gibson, a 19-year-old goalie for the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League, made 36 saves.

Phoenix's Lauri Korpikoski scored twice in the third period for Finland.

"At the end there, Gibson was outstanding," said U.S. coach Joe Sacco. "We had only two days of preparation for this tournament and I thought our young group did a really good job. I told them after the game that the most impressive thing was ... how we came together as a group."