By Philip O’Connor
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Team USA hammered co-hosts Sweden 6-2 on Saturday to advance to Sunday’s final of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship, giving the Americans a chance at their first gold medal at the tournament for more than 90 years.
Olympic gold medallists in 1960 and 1980, the Americans have not won gold at the world championship since 1933, but their drubbing of co-hosts Sweden sets them up for a decider against either Switzerland or surprise package Denmark, who face off in the second semi-final later on Saturday.
Brady Skjei and Cutter Gauthier both netted in the first period for the Americans at the Avicii Arena as the sluggish Swedes struggled to deal with their speed and aggression, and the visitors put two more goals past them in the second when Conor Garland and Mikey Eyssimont both got on the scoresheet.
William Nylander finally gave the home fans in the crowd of 12,530 something to cheer by slamming the puck home 6:32 into the third period, and Elias Lindholm smashed a low drive into the net less than a minute later to make it 4-2 with just under 13 minutes left to play.
That was as close as they got, and any hopes of a Swedish comeback were snuffed out when Team USA’s Jackson Lacombe scored with a superb solo breakaway goal to make it 5-2. Shane Pinto put the icing on the cake shortly afterwards, firing into an empty net with 4:07 remaining.
The puck drops in Sunday’s final at the same arena at 2020 CET (1820 GMT), with Sweden taking part in the bronze-medal game against the other losing semi-finalist earlier in the day.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; editing by Clare Fallon)
