TORINO 2006 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES, Feb 10-26

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Sweden Takes Hockey Gold
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:51 a.m. ET

TURIN, Italy (AP) -- Nicklas Lidstrom's blast from just inside the blue line nine seconds into the third period gave Sweden a 3-2 victory over Finland in the men's hockey gold medal game Sunday.

Each team had a player in the penalty box when Lidstrom took a back pass from Mats Sundin and fired from the point past Finnish goalie Antero Niittymaki.

The game, which is the Nordic equivalent of the Super Bowl on ice, was tied 2-2 after two periods following a flurry of goals midway through the second period.

Finland led 1-0 when Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall scored power-play goals to give Sweden a 2-1 lead with 6:35 left in the second period. But Ville Peltonen then took a nice pass from Jussi Jokinen and flipped a backhander past Swedish goal Henrik Lundqvist to tie the score at 2.

Kimmo Timonen had scored on a blast from the point on a power play to give Finland its first goal. Timonen's shot dribbled through Lundqvist's pads and slowly rolled into the net.

The game is the final contest of the Turin Olympics, and to people in Sweden and Finland its a huge grudge match between the Nordic neighbors.

Finland has gone undefeated in the tournament, and eliminated the United States and Russia to reach the final. Sweden lost to Russia and Slovakia in the preliminary round, but beat Switzerland and the Czech Republic to reach the gold medal match.

Pre-tournament favorites such as Canada and Russia couldn't stand up to these teams from countries that have a combined population less than that of Florida, but more than their share of the world's hockey talent.

''I think it will be the biggest game ever,'' Finland forward Saku Koivu said. ''We all know the importance of it. There will be a lot of emotion involved.''

For good reason, too: Nearly two centuries ago, the two countries were one. But after Russia overran part of the country in 1809, Sweden ceded Finland to the Russians, and Finland didn't gain autonomy until 108 years later.

This is a friendly rivalry. Some players on opposing sides Sunday will go back to being NHL teammates Monday. But neither country wants to lose this game, especially since there is no guarantee a first Olympic final will be followed by a second.