Team USA Reaches IIHF World Championship Final, Eyes 1st Gold Medal Since 1933

Team USA is one win away from capturing its first International Ice Hockey Federation gold medal in 92 years.

The U.S. clinched a berth in the IIHF championship game for the first time since 1934 with a 6-2 win over Sweden in the semifinal on Saturday.

The United States will play the winner of the Denmark-Switzerland game in the final on Sunday.

The Americans dominated their semifinal win right from the start. Brady Skjei gave put them up 1-0 less than seven minutes into the opening period. Cutter Gauthier's goal off a rebound from Shane Pinto's miss extended the lead to two with less than three minutes remaining in the first.

Team USA added two more goals in the second period to hold a 4-0 lead with 20 minutes remaining in regulation. William Nylander and Elias Lindholm were able to give Sweden some hope with two goals in the span of 41 seconds midway in the third period.

Jackson LaCombe ended that brief run with a goal to put the U.S. back up by three at 5-2. Pinto put the icing on the cake when his shot found the back of the net with just over four minutes remaining.

The win marks the first time Team USA's senior men's team will play in an IIHF final in any tournament since losing to Canada in the gold-medal game at the 2010 Olympics.

This will be the fourth time in five years at the IIHF world championship tournament that the United States is playing for a medal. It won the bronze in 2021 before losing in the third-place game in 2022 and 2023.

America finished fifth overall in the 2024 tournament, losing to Czechia in the quarterfinals.

Team USA lost to Canada in its last IIHF final in 1934, one year after defeating the Canadians to win the event. That remains the only gold medal in the IIHF World Championships for the United States to date.

Sunday's final will start at 2:20 p.m. ET.