Team USA's Rocco Grimaldi, top celebrates his second goal against Sweden with teammates Jacob Trouba, Shayne Gostisbehere and Vince Trocheck, left to right.
UFA, RUSSIA—Team USA is golden.
Two second period goals by speedster Rocco Grimaldi and another exceptional performance by goalie John Gibson helped vault the Americans to a 3-1 win over Sweden on Saturday in the world junior hockey championships.
Gibson, who plays for the Kitchener Rangers, was named tournament MVP.
Vince Trocheck scored into an empty net to secure the American win.
Filip Sandberg scored for Sweden, the defending champions.
The Americans last won gold in 2010. It’s the third gold for the U.S. in 10 years, second only to Canada (five) in that span. Russia won bronze earlier, beating Canada 6-5 in overtime.
Gibson was also named top goalie. Canadian captain Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was named top forward. American captain Jake McCabe was named top defenceman.
Team USA finished seventh in the tournament last year, but its roster was bolstered this year by a number of players – including defenceman Seth Jones – who have a history of winning big games.
While it was the first time Sweden played the U.S. in the final of the world junior tournament, the two national teams have developed quite the rivalry.
In fact, most of the U.S. roster has won gold three times – over Sweden each time – in recent years in under-18 and under-17 tournaments.
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