TAMPERE, Finland – Sakari Manninen scored in a power play 6 minutes and 42 seconds into a 3-on-3 overtime and Finland beat Canada 4-3 on Sunday to secure their fourth World Hockey Championship title .
Host Finland completed a World Cup double after winning the Olympics in China in February, and joined Sweden in 2006 as the only countries to win Olympic and world titles in the same year.
“It’s amazing,” said Finnish coach Jukka Jalonen. “You can’t even understand what happened. Maybe in the summer, we can find out what really happened. But three months and two gold medals, it’s amazing!”
Ottawa Senators defender Thomas Chabot was sent off for hitting, setting up the winning power play. With a 4-on-3 lead, Manninen scored in a time from the right circle after a pass from Nashville Predators center Mikael Granlund.
“I think it’s pretty obvious the guy threw himself, but at the end of the day, my stick was in there and I put myself in that position, so it’s a hockey call-up and things happen quickly,” he said. Chabot. “But I think everyone can agree that it was a bit of a dive, I think.”
Canadian Winnipeg Jets striker Pierre-Luc Dubois added: “You work hard and make a decision, it sucks. We know that when we go into these tournaments, there are different rules, but that’s not the point. It’s frustrating. “You no longer know the rules.”
Finland won the IIHF World Hockey Championship just three months after winning gold at the Olympics. Jari Pestelacci / Eurasia Sport Images / Getty Images
The countries faced each other for the third time in a row in the final. Finland beat Canada in 2019 in Slovakia, and Canada surpassed the Finns last year in Latvia. The 2020 event was canceled.
Granlund scored twice and Montreal Canadiens striker Joel Armia added a goal for Finland. Jussi Olkinuora made 19 saves.
Dylan Cozens, Zach Whitecloud and Max Comtois, a Anaheim Ducks striker, scored for Canada, with Whitecloud and Comtois connecting at the end of the third with goalkeeper Matt Tomkins out for an additional striker.
“It was crazy,” said Granlund, who joined the team after the Predators were eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. “It was great! What an end to the game. They tied it in the third period, but in the end we found a way and that’s great.”
Whitecloud, a Las Vegas Golden Knights defender, drew Canada to one with 2:12 for the end and Comtois tied with 1:24 for the end.
“It’s our team’s struggle,” said Canadian striker Cole Sillinger, who has just finished his rookie season with the Columbus Blue Jackets. “We never give up. We pushed them to the end, and it’s a shame there was another penalty in overtime and they’re capitalized. They played a great hockey game, and we congratulate them.”
Cozens, a Buffalo Sabers center-forward, opened the scoring for Canada with a power play early in the second period. But Granlund tied early in the third with a 5-on-3 lead with Canadian Noah Gregor (tripping) and Sillinger (very hooked) making penalties.
Canadian goalkeeper Chris Driedger, who has just finished his first season with the Seattle Kraken, was injured in the play and was replaced by Tomkins, who quickly delivered a second power-play goal to Backlund. Armia made it 3-1 with 5:56 of the end of regulation in a wrist shot through the traffic.
In the third-place match, Boston Bruins star striker David Pastrnak had a hat trick against his NHL teammate Jeremy Swayman, the U.S. team’s goalkeeper, and the Czech Republic scored. an 8-4 victory.
Swayman, a late entry for the Americans after the Bruins’ season ended in round 1 earlier this month, was 3-0 in the tournament for the weekend of the championship, but lost to Finland and the Czechs on consecutive days.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.