The United States won the men’s world hockey championship gold medal by defeating Switzerland 1-0 in overtime on Sunday. Tage Thompson scored the winning goal 2:02 into the extra period. His wrist shot went past Swiss goalie Leonardo Genoni after the U.S. fired 40 shots on goal throughout the game. Goaltender Jeremy Swayman stopped all 25 shots from Switzerland, securing a shutout victory for the Americans.
This victory marks the first time in 92 years that the United States has won the World Championship gold medal. The last official win was in 1933. While the U.S. also claimed the Olympic gold in 1960, USA Hockey does not count that as a World Championship title since the tournament was not held that year. Switzerland, who finished as runner-up last year, has never won the tournament.
The game remained scoreless through the regular three periods, with both teams’ goalies performing strongly. Conor Garland of the U.S. missed a penalty shot during the second period, but the American team increased their pressure in the middle and final periods. The U.S. outshot Switzerland 17-9 in the second period and maintained control with 11 shots on goal in the third compared to Switzerland’s four.
Jeremy Swayman improved his record to 7-0 at this tournament. The U.S. team paid tribute to forward Johnny Gaudreau by holding up his jersey after the win. Gaudreau, the U.S. all-time leading scorer at the World Championship, tragically died with his brother in August.
Switzerland had defeated the U.S. 3-0 earlier in the group stage, which was the Americans’ only loss in the tournament. Tage Thompson earned his third World Championship medal after winning bronze in 2018 and 2021. He tied Allen Van for the most decorated American player at the Worlds. Every U.S. player except the goalkeepers scored at least one point during the tournament, with Frank Nazar leading in points with six goals and six assists.
Switzerland has now lost four finals since the playoff format began in 1992. They lost to Sweden in 2013 and 2018 and to the Czech Republic last year.
Sweden took the bronze medal with a 6-2 win over Denmark earlier on Sunday. Mikael Backlund and Marcus Johansson scored two goals each for Sweden. Lucas Raymond and Mika Zibanejad also scored. Denmark earned their best-ever finish in the tournament, coming in fourth after upsetting Canada in the quarterfinals. Nick Olesen and Nikolaj Ehlers scored for Denmark in the bronze medal match.
