UFA, Russia (AP) — The United States won the junior ice hockey championships on Saturday after Rocco Grimaldi scored twice and Vince Trocheck added an empty-net goal for a 3-1 win over Sweden in the final.
Filip Sandberg put defending champion Sweden ahead on power play early in the second period, but Grimaldi then scored twice in a three-minute span to swing the game in the Americans' favor. He powered from behind the net to score, and then redirected Jacob Trouba's slap shot from the blue line midway through second period.
Sweden pulled its goalie for an extra player with 1:42 left but failed to capitalize. Instead, Trocheck rounded off the win with 16.7 seconds left. John Gibson made 26 saves for the victory and was named the MVP of the tournament. Niklas Lundstrom had 31 saves for Sweden.
It was the third title for the Americans, who also won in 2004 and 2010. Earlier, Valeri Nichushkin scored an overtime winner to give Russia a 6-5 victory over Canada in the bronze-medal match. Canada trailed throughout the match, but Brett Ritchie scored an equalizer with 9 minutes left of the third period to force overtime. In the extra 10-minute period, Nichushkin broke down the right flank on a solo effort and skated in front of the goal to score into the left corner after just 1:35.
Russia goalkeeper Andrei Makarov made 40 saves for the victory. Malcolm Subban stopped 19 shots for Canada. It was the first time since 1998 that 15-time champion Canada finished without a medal at the event.
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