STOCKHOLM, May 19 (R-Sport) – Alex Galchenyuk scored twice in a shootout as the United States won its first medal at the world hockey championship in a decade with a 3-2 win over Finland in the bronze medal game on Sunday.
After winning gold in 2011, the Finns finished fourth for the second year in a row. They came first in the Helsinki group stage at the 2013 tournament with 16 points.
The undefeated Swiss will face host Sweden for the gold medal later on Sunday.
Janne Pesonen gave Finland the go-ahead goal in the shootout before the 19-year-old Galchenyuk, the third and final shooter for the Americans, tied it up with a hard deke on Anti Raanta. On Finland’s fourth attempt, Mikael Granlund poked the puck wide of an open net after faking John Gibson.
Galchenyuk, a rookie with the Montreal Canadiens this season, buried a high slap shot and sent the Americans spilling onto the ice.
"Obviously you want it to be gold," St. Louis Blues forward T.J. Oshie said of coming away with a medal. "But that's not going to take any excitement away from winning this."
Craig Smith and Paul Stastny each had a goal and an assist for the U.S. and Gibson made 36 saves, including 17 in a rocky third period when he coughed up a 2-0 lead with 12 minutes left in the game.
Playing on the Americans’ top line, Smith, a Nashville Predators forward, scored his fourth goal of the tournament less than a minute into the first period when Stastny, the team captain, pushed the puck to center ice. Smith received it in traffic and flicked a wrist shot past Raanta.
The dangerous tandem, who combined for 29 points in 10 tournament games, hooked up again 15 minutes later with Smith feeding Stastny on the power play for his seventh goal.
The 23-year-old Smith, who had 12 points in 44 games this season with the Predators, finished the world championship with an impressive four goals and 10 assists.
Anchoring the tournament’s youngest team, the 19-year-old Gibson carried the U.S. through the first two periods, stopping 18 shots. But Lauri Korpikoski, a forward with the Phoenix Coyotes, solved him in the third, netting a goal at 8:56 then another four minutes later.
The game-tying goal came as Mikael Granlund swooped into an open lane left of the American net. He lost control of the puck for a quick second and Korpikoski swatted at his teammate’s stick to hack the puck past Gibson.
The minor collapse mirrored what happened in Saturday’s 3-0 loss against Switzerland, when Gibson allowed one goal on 24 shots through the first 40 minutes before giving up two in the third period to put his team in a deep hole.
But the Americans held on through the third-period blitz and quieter overtime period by containing Finland's top scorers Janne Pesonen, Petri Kontiola and Juhamatti Aaltonen and holding the trio to only five shots over the final 30 minutes. Kontiola assisted on Korpikoski's second goal.
Raanta, a 24-year-old playing in his first world championship, made 23 saves.
The Americans had not won a medal at the annual tournament since 2004, when they beat Slovakia 1-0 for bronze.
