HALIFAX, Nova Scotia -- Chaz Lucius (Winnipeg Jets) scored his third goal at 2:06 of overtime to give the United States an 8-7 win against Sweden in the bronze-medal game of the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship on Thursday.
U.S. defeats Sweden to win bronze at World Junior Championship
Lucius completes hat trick in OT, Gauthier scores twice to help Americans earn medal
Sweden goalie Carl Lindbom (Vegas Golden Knights) stopped a shot by Lane Hutson (Montreal Canadiens), but Lucius drove to the net and knocked in the rebound.
"'Hutty' got the puck, came in and shot it, it kind of hit off the goalie's pad and hit the post," Lucius said. "Luckily I was there, kind of grabbed it, their player was coming in from my left side, pulled it quickly and shot it in on my backhand."
Cutter Gauthier (Philadelphia Flyers) scored two goals, and Ryan Ufko (Nashville Predators) and Logan Cooley (Arizona Coyotes) each had a goal and an assist for the U.S. Kaidan Mbereko (2023 draft eligible) made 14 saves on 16 shots after replacing Trey Augustine (2023 draft eligible) to start the third period. Augustine allowed five goals on 20 shots.
"It's not the medal we came for, but you've got to get a medal," U.S. coach Rand Pecknold said.
RELATED: [Canada takes WJC gold with OT win against Czechia]
To motivate his players after their 6-2 loss to Canada in the semifinals Wednesday, Pecknold related a text he received from Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour.
"After last night's game you open your phone up, you get a million texts," Pecknold said. "The first one I got was from Rod Brind'Amour and he told me a story in text about the 1998 (Nagano) Olympics. [Canada] lost in a shootout (2-1 to the Czech Republic in the semifinals), and it still is his No. 1 regret ... that bronze-medal game they didn't play hard and they lost (3-2 to Finland), they came in fourth."
Filip Bystedt (San Jose Sharks) had two goals and an assist, and Leo Carlsson (2023 draft eligible) had a goal and an assist for Sweden, which won bronze at the 2022 WJC in August. Lindbom made 28 saves.
"They have a good team, a lot of skilled players," Sweden coach Magnus Havelid said. "I think we have a good team as well. Wide-open hockey, it ends 7-7 before overtime. ... I was happy for my team because I think we never give up. We really want to have the bronze medal, but unfortunately not."
Cooley gave the U.S. a 1-0 lead at 2:51 of the first period. Jimmy Snuggerud (St. Louis Blues) knocked Sweden defenseman Victor Sjoholm (2023 draft eligible) off the puck behind the Sweden net and passed in front to Cooley, who scored on a one-timer from the slot.
Ufko made it 2-0 on the power play at 1:51 of the second period.
Bystedt cut it to 2-1 at 3:33, but Lucius scored on a breakaway at 5:04 for a 3-1 U.S. lead.
Oskar Pettersson (Ottawa Senators) made it 3-2 at 6:35, and Carlsson tied it 3-3 at 8:52 after an Ufko turnover.
Gauthier's power-play goal put the U.S. ahead 4-3 at 10:42, and Lucius made it 5-3 at 13:37.
Sweden got within 5-4 at 18:52 on a power-play goal by Milton Oscarsson (2023 draft eligible), and Liam Ohgren (Minnesota Wild) tied it 5-5 at 19:18 when he scored into an empty net after an Augustine giveaway.
Noah Ostlund (Buffalo Sabres) put Sweden ahead 6-5 at 4:00 of the third period, but Luke Hughes (New Jersey Devils) tied it 6-6 at 8:17. Hughes tried to spin around Sweden defenseman Adam Engstrom (Montreal Canadiens) but was knocked down. Without losing the puck, Hughes shot it from his knees past Lindbom.
"Right when we got out of the locker room (Wednesday), we said we've got to medal tomorrow," said Hughes, the U.S. captain. "It's really important for USA Hockey, it's really important for us as a team. I think we all came together and just focused on playing 60 minutes and just leaving it all out there."
Gauthier knocked in a loose puck at the crease on the power play at 18:23 to put the U.S. ahead 7-6, but with Lindbom pulled for an extra attacker, Bystedt scored on the rebound of a Isak Rosen (Buffalo Sabres) shot at 19:38 to force overtime.
Havelid said he felt that goal turned the momentum Sweden's way.
"As a coach, you hope definitely, the hockey gods will be on your side," he said. "But not this time."
The bronze comes after the U.S. finished fifth at the 2022 WJC in August.
"It was a great group of guys and an awesome experience for me to get to coach these guys and get this opportunity from USA Hockey," Pecknold said.
Canada won the gold medal by defeating Czechia 3-2 in overtime on Thursday.
