TAMPERE, Finland — Sakari Manninen scored on a power play at 6 minutes, 42 seconds of 3-on-3 overtime and Finland beat Canada 4-3 on Sunday for its fourth world hockey championship title.
Host Finland completed an Olympics-world double after winning in China in February, joining Sweden in 2006 as the only countries to win Olympic and world titles in the same year.
“It’s unbelievable,” Finnish coach Jukka Jalonen said. “You can’t even understand what has happened. Maybe in the summer, we can figure out what really happened. But three months and two gold medals — it’s unbelievable!”
Ottawa Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot was sent off for hooking, setting up the winning power play. With the 4-on-3 advantage, Manninen scored on a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Nashville Predators center Mikael Granlund.
“I think it’s pretty obvious that the guy threw himself, but at the end of the day, my stick was in there and I put myself in that position, so it’s a hockey call and things happen quick,” Chabot said. “But I think everyone can agree that it was a bit of a dive, I think.”
Added Canadian center Pierre-Luc Dubois, a forward for the Winnipeg Jets: “You work so hard and for it to be decided like that, it sucks. We know when we come into these tournaments, it’s different rules, but that’s not the point. It’s frustrating. You don’t even know the rulebook anymore.”
The countries met for the third straight time in the finals. Finland beat Canada in 2019 in Slovakia, and Canada topped the Finns last year in Latvia. The 2020 event was canceled.
Granlund scored twice and Montreal Canadiens forward Joel Armia added a goal for Finland. Jussi Olkinuora made 19 saves.
Dylan Cozens, Zach Whitecloud and Max Comtois, a forward for the Anaheim Ducks, scored for Canada, with Whitecloud and Comtois connecting late in the third with goalie Matt Tomkins off for an extra attacker.
“It was crazy,” said Granlund, who joined the team after the Predators were eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. “It was great! What an ending to the game. They tied it up in the third period, but we found a way in the end and this is just awesome.”
Whitecloud, a defenseman for the Vegas Golden Knights, pulled Canada within one with 2:12 remaining and Comtois tied it with 1:24 to go.
“It’s the fight in our team,” said Canada forward Cole Sillinger, who just finished his rookie season with the Columbus Blue Jackets. “We never give up. We pushed them ’til the end, and it’s unfortunate that there was another penalty in overtime and they capitalized. They played a great hockey game, and congratulations to them.”
Cozens, a center for the Buffalo Sabres, opened the scoring for Canada on a power play early in the second period. But Granlund tied it early in the third on a 5-on-3 advantage with Canada’s Noah Gregor (tripping) and Sillinger (high-sticking) serving penalties.
Canadian goaltender Chris Driedger, who just finished his first season with the Seattle Kraken, was injured on the play and was replaced by Tomkins, who quickly surrendered a second power-play goal to Backlund. Armia made it 3-1 with 5:56 left in regulation on a wrist shot through traffic.
In the third-place game, Boston Bruins star forward David Pastrnak had a hat trick against his NHL teammate Jeremy Swayman, the Team USA goaltender, and the Czech Republic rolled to an 8-4 victory.
Swayman, a late entry for the Americans after the Bruins’ season ended in Round 1 earlier this month, was 3-0 in the tournament headed into the championship weekend but lost to Finland and the Czechs in back-to-back days.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.