Grundstrom powers Sweden past Canada to win bronze at hockey worlds

Canada will be leaving the world hockey championship empty-handed.

Sweden scored three unanswered goals in the third period to earn a 4-2 comeback win over Canada and claim bronze on Sunday in Prague. Canada was stunned by Switzerland in the semifinal on Saturday, falling 3-2 by shootout, leaving the Canadians to play for bronze.

“The really tough loss was last night because we wanted to be playing for a gold medal today, but we also wanted to win our last game and bring home a bronze medal,” forward Pierre-Luc Dubois said. “Today stings but the semifinal stings a lot too.”

“I had an unbelievable time with this group. After a month together, it is tough to be so close to playing in the gold-medal game but losing in a shootout.”

The host Czech Republic defeated Switzerland 2-0 to strike gold later Sunday.

WATCH | Sweden takes out Canada to claim bronze medal:

Carl Grundstrom, with two goals, Erik Karlsson and Marcus Johansson scored for Sweden. Filip Gustavsson made 20 saves.

Dylan Cozens, with his tournament-leading ninth goal, and Dubois replied for Canada. Jordan Binnington stopped 29 shots.

Dubois scored 4:18 into the third period to give the Canadians a 2-1 edge, their first lead of the game after Grundstrom opened the scoring with the lone goal of the first period.

Karlsson kick-started Sweden’s run at 9:35 before Grundstrom got in on the fun just over four minutes later. Johansson scored an empty-netter with five seconds left to seal the win.

“It was a little tough to get our game going today, but I thought we were rock solid in the second period,” Canada head coach Andre Tourigny said. “We could have handled our lead a little better and I feel like we backed off [Sweden] too much, and unfortunately we were not as good as we needed to be.”

“Our players worked hard all tournament, and they were very committed to winning and fought for each other. I have so much respect for all the guys in our room for the sacrifice they made to play in this tournament, and I am really proud of our team.”

Czechs blank Swiss in final

David Pastrnak and David Kampf scored as the Czech Republic shut out Switzerland to win the world championship.

Boston Bruins forward Pastrnak broke the deadlock with 10:47 remaining in the final period, prompting the sold-out Prague Arena to erupt in wild celebration.

Pastrnak one-timed his usual place in the left circle past goaltender Leonardo Genoni after being fed by defenceman Tomas Kundratek from the blue line.

Pastrnak scored his first goal at the tournament and Kampf added the second into an empty net with 19 seconds left when the Swiss pulled Genoni for an extra attacker.

Czech goaltender Lukas Dostal stopped 31 shots for the shutout.

It was the seventh title won by the Czech Republic — or Czechia — after the country was created in 1993 following the breakup of Czechoslovakia and the first since 2010.

Czechoslovakia won six titles.

The final was only the fourth game at the tournament for Pastrnak and his teammate Pavel Zacha who joined the team after the Bruins were eliminated from the NHL playoffs.

Genoni made 30 saves.

Switzerland is yet to win the title and recorded a runner-up finish for the fourth time. The previous three came in 1935, 2013 and 2018. They came close in 2018, losing to Sweden 3-2 in a shootout.

In the preliminary stage, Switzerland beat the Czechs 2-1 in a shootout and finished second in Group A behind Canada and a point ahead of the Czechs.

Backed by the home crowd, the Czechs went on the attack, outshooting the Swiss 23-17 in the first two periods but only hit the post (Dominik Kubalik) and the bar (Kampf) in the second period.