Sweden won its second gold medal in 12 years by edging rival Finland 3-2 Sunday in the Torino Games finale.

Gold medal is sweet
relief for Swedes
By Phil Coffey | NHL.com
Feb. 26, 2006

TORINO, Italy - Sweet vindication!

For the veteran players of Team Sweden that's the emotion coursing through their veins after squeaking out a taut 3-2 victory over Finland to win the 2006 Olympic gold medal in hockey Sunday.

Now, the stigma of the quarterfinal loss to Belarus in Salt Lake City four years ago -- a game lost on a long, fluke goal against Tommy Salo -- is dead and buried.

"It's a nice relief," said jubilant Toronto Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin. "We have known for some time that we've had a talented enough team to win gold. For us older players playing probably our last Olympics, it was great to put it all together.

"To go out against Belarus in the quarterfinals was very disappointing for us and the Swedish people, so to come back and win gold like this is very satisfying.

"It's been a long wait for Swedish hockey," Sundin continued. "In the last three Olympics there were expectations for us to win medals. I think we were more experienced this time around. We learned you have to be better at this time of the tournament.

"The guys are getting older," Sundin said of the Swedish veteran core. "Maybe this was out last chance."

"Everybody on the team just felt like it was out turn to win this tournament," Philadelphia's Peter Forsberg said.

If it was, the Swedes sure made the most of it and two players came up with very clutch performances.

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom scored the game-winning goal just 10 seconds into the third period, potting a laser-like shot that found just a sliver of room between Finnish goalie Antero Niittymaki and the crossbar.

In typical Lidstrom fashion, he deflected the praise to Sundin and Forsberg, who assisted on the winning goal.

"I don't think you'll see us in the next one," Lidstrom said, sneaking a peek to Vancouver in 2010. "It was fitting they assisted on my goal."

When Forsberg scored the winning goal against Canada in a shootout in 1994, the moment was commemorated on a postage stamp. Sundin figures there should be something special to mark Lidstrom's goal.

"He deserves it," Sundin said. "That shot is going in the history books. It's fitting he scored it. He's been our best player in the tournament."

And at the other end of the period, New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist made a tremendous stop on Olli Jokinen of the Florida Panthers to preserve the win at 19:37.

"Lundqvist had an unbelievable game," Sundin said of the save. "We all thought that was in the net."

"I was able to get the puck and tired to go to the back door," Jokinen said. "Lundqvist made a nice save. He robbed me. It would have been a little bit different ... But in a 60-minute game things like that happen."

Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers' 23-year-old rookie, was strong in the third period when gold was within reach.

For his part, Lundqvist, who has enjoyed a sensational rookie season with the Rangers, was typically low-key about his game.

"I think I handled it OK," Lundqvist said. "I didn't play as well as I could until the third period when the only thing on my mind was to get the gold."

Mission accomplished.

"Just unbelievable," Lundqvist continued. "Our goal going into this tournament was gold and to have the opportunity to play against Finland was great. It was a great game and we got the win."

The loss was a bitter disappointment for the Finns, who had overcome so many obstacles in the form of key injuries both before and during the tournament. Defenseman Sami Salo accepted his silver medal in street clothes, wearing his jersey because of a shoulder injury.

"It's tough to analyze right now," said Dallas Stars winger Jere Lehtinen, who was one of Finland's top players in these Olympics. "They didn't do anything different that we expected. It was a pretty tight game overall, a one-goal game, so that makes it tough.

"Right now, I don't feel too good," Lehtinen said, trying to muster a smile as he looked at the silver medal around his neck. "But we had a great team and did a lot of good things. But today we had a chance to go all the way and we didn't do it."

"Today we didn't have our best game," Buffalo Sabres defenseman Toni Lydman said. "We are very disappointed. Today, we had three goals against. I don't know why. It's very hard for me right now to analyze the game. Tomorrow will be a better day."

Scoring the first goal of the game was considered a pivotal factor by both teams prior to the game. So it looked promising for the Finns when defenseman Kimmo Timonen of the Nashville Predators drew first blood with a power-play goal at 14:45.

Both clubs had played through a cautious feeling-out process early on, with each killing off a power play prior to Jorgen Jonsson being called for hooking at 14:15.

Taking a pass at the left point from Teemu Selanne, Timonen got the puck on net, where there was a crowd in front of Niittymaki, including Finnish captain Saku Koivu and Lidstrom. Despite the pushing and shoving, the puck went in unmolested to give Timonen the goal.

Henrik Zetterberg's goal got the Swedes on the board during a strong second period.

Sweden struck back with a power-play goal of its own at 4:42 of the second period as Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg wheeled out from behind the net to Niittymaki's left and jammed the puck in to tie the score.

Still another Red Wing, defenseman Niklas Kronwall, scored on the power play again at 13:24 to put the Swedes up by a goal, 2-1. Zetterberg did the honors at this goal, spotting Kronwall moving in from the right point and getting him the puck where his shot found net behind Niittymaki.

The game appeared to have take a significant turn, with the Swedes doing to the Finns what Finland had done to the opposition throughout the tournament, namely getting a lead and then shutting down the opposition's offense.

But the Finns were not ready to go home. Dallas' Jussi Jokinen helped insure that, coming out from the side of the net to Lundqvist's right and moving the puck to a waiting Ville Peltonen, who wasted no time tying the game.

But that tie was gone before you could say "Hey, want some popcorn before the period starts?" when Lidstrom's precision shot found net before many had settled into their seats for the third period.

As the buzzer sounded to crown the Swedes Olympic champs, a wild celebration ensued in front of Lundqvist's net as the Swedes blew off years of Olympic frustration.

At the other end, the somber faces on the exhausted Finns told an entirely different story. The had been the story of the tournament, a team that never quit. But the 7-1 record and silver medals that were to follow were of little consolation.

But for the Swedes, the gold medals that soon hung around their necks represented far more than mere relief from the pressure of past Olympics, it was at once the end of an era and the start of a bright future.