World Championship Recap - 25.05.25

Mikael Backlund was determined to make his final game of the 2024-25 season a good one.

And as he's done so many times before over the course of his career, he led the way.

Backlund scored twice to help send host Sweden on its way toward the IIHF World Championship bronze medal, breaking the ice in his country's 6-2 win over Denmark Sunday.

And with his three-point effort Sunday, he earned his country's Player of the Game honour.

The Flames captain earned his fourth career World Championship medal, while defenceman Rasmus Andersson collected his first major IIHF medal in his Worlds debut.

A tense first period produced no goals at Avicii Arena, as the Swedes outshot the Danes 6-4, but Backlund's line took charge as the Tre Kronor attacked in waves to begin period two.

He opened the scoring 5:16 into the second period, but did so while playing on the wing. Former Calgary teammate Elias Lindholm won a faceoff in the Danish zone, spinning the puck back to defenceman Adam Larsson, who found Backlund at the left post for a tap-in behind Denmark netminder Frederik Dichow.

Backlund struck again less than five minutes later, accepting a pass from Lindholm on the left wing before sending a sharp-angled shot goalward that slipped through Dichow and into the back of the net.

Marcus Johansson extended the Swedish lead to 3-0 before the break, then Lucas Raymond added short-handed insurance 2:55 into the third period to make it 4-0.

But Denmark, three days removed from a famous upset win over Canada in the quarterfinal round, stayed true to their plucky selves, halving the deficit in quick succession on tallies from Nick Olesen and Nikolaj Ehlers.

Once again, Backlund's line took charge, and calmed everything down on a powerplay at the 8:25 mark of the third. After the puck was sent goalward, Backlund jammed a rebound on goal before a third effort was finally put home by Johansson to make the scoreline 5-2 in Sweden's favour.

Mika Zibanejad rounded out the scoring with just under five minutes left to play.

Backlund finished the tournament with nine points (3G, 6A), matching the career-best total he put up in his last World Championships appearance in 2018.

Andersson - the Swedish captain - had two goals and six points in the tournament.