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Swedes win first WJC gold since 1981 in style

2012 World Junior Hockey Championships - Gold Medal Game - Russia v Sweden

CALGARY, CANADA - JANUARY 5: Johan Larsson #10 of Team Sweden collides with Andrei Makarov #20 of Team Russia during the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship Gold Medal game at the Scotiabank Saddledome on January 5, 2012 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)

Richard Wolowicz

Sweden has pumped out some world-beating talent over the last few decades, but that hasn’t manifested itself in glory during the World Junior Hockey Championships. As shocking as it might seem, the Swedes haven’t taken home a gold medal in the annual tournament since 1981, but that all changed thanks to this sensational overtime game-winning goal by Mika Zibanejad:

That ended up being the only goal scored in the game, as Andrei Makarov (57 saves) kept Russia in the game while Johan Gustafsson only needed to stop 17 pucks to earn a shutout.

Here are the full highlights from Sweden’s 1-0 win over the Russians, who received little love from a Canadian crowd that was still smarting over the fact that the “brash” Russians sent their boys to the bronze medal consolation round:

And just because it’s fun to watch college-aged Europeans go nuts over dramatic victories, here’s the trophy presentation too:

Not sure if you can ever top last year’s (possibly already drunken) celebration by the Russians, though.