IIHF World Championship roundup: Czechs claim gold against Swiss, Sweden snatch bronze
World Championship final
Switzerland 0 Czech Republic 2
After 14 long years, the Czech Republic claimed the gold medal at the IIHF World Championship on home ice in Prague after winning a tense final 2-0 against Switzerland.
In front of a packed and raucous home crowd, Boston Bruins star David Pastrnak scored the go-ahead goal in the third period before David Kampf added an empty-netter late on to send the fans into dreamland.
Czech goaltender Lukas Dostal contributed to the triumph with his third clean sheet of the championship.
The opening period was a tense and cagey affair at a sold-out O2 Arena with neither side able to find a breakthrough. The second period was similar with both sides failing to score across two power plays each.
Pastrnak broke the game open in the third when his fierce slapshot flew into the Swiss net in the 50th minute. The Swiss pulled their keeper in the final minutes looking for an equaliser and Kampf added the hosts' second in the dying moments as the crowd exploded into delirium.
With the gold, the Czechs won their second medal in the last three championships after securing bronze in 2022. By winning silver, the Swiss equalled their historic best finish of second (also in 1935, 2013 and 2018).
Third-place playoff
Sweden 4 Canada 2
Sweden won the bronze medal at the tournament after defeating Canada 4-2 in the third-place playoff in Prague, played before the final on Sunday. Two goals were scored by forward Carl Grundstrom.
With the win, the Swedes claimed their first medal since the 2018 World Championship in Denmark, where they defended their title. They have not reached the semi-finals since then, and three years ago they did not even make the playoffs.
The Swedes, who were undefeated until Saturday's semi-final loss to the Czech Republic, took the lead in the match through Grundstrom but the Canadians turned the tide with goals from Dylan Cozens and Pierre-Luc Dubois.
However, the latter stages belonged to the Swedes entirely. Erik Karlsson tied the game, Grundstrom scored the winning goal in the 54th minute and Marcus Johansson closed the match out with a late empty netter.