The 2011 IIHF World Championship final was played at the Orange Arena in Bratislava, Slovakia on 15 May between Sweden and Finland. Finland won the match 6âÂÂ1 and became world champions for the first time since the 1995 tournament, and for the second time in history. This match was Finland's first final since 2007 and Sweden's first final since 2006.
Finland and Sweden met in the IIHF World Championships final last time in the 1998 tournament in Switzerland. The two-game format final resulted in Sweden's victory 0âÂÂ1, 0âÂÂ0.
As two highly ranked neighboring countries, Sweden and Finland have a long-running competitive tradition in ice hockey. Before the game, mainstream media in both countries titled the match "a dream final".
The first period was goal-less, with good scoring chances at both ends. Sweden's Oliver Ekman-Larsson took a penalty at 17:52 for interference, but Finland did not manage to score in Viktor Fasth's goal. In the second period at 4:41, Sweden's Marcus Krüger took a penalty for slashing, but the Swedes were again successful in killing the penalty. After only a minute of five-on-five play, Sweden's Magnus Pääjärvi fired a fierce shot towards Petri Vehanen's net and scored the match's first goal at 27:40 for a 1âÂÂ0 lead to Sweden.
Two Finnish penalties followed, at 29:15 to Niko Kapanen for hooking, and at 34:25 to Petteri Nokelainen for boarding, but the Swedes did not manage to increase their lead despite a close call.
Towards the second period's end, at 39:30, Sweden's David Petrasek took a penalty for hooking Finland's Mikael Granlund near the Swedish goal. With only 7 seconds remaining of the second period, Finland's Jarkko Immonen did not miss a pass from Janne Pesonen to score a power play goal to Fasth's net, tying the game to 1âÂÂ1.
The opening goal for Finland seemed to unleash the team's momentum, as the third period had not reached its third minute before Petteri Nokelainen scored for Finland to give them a 1âÂÂ2 lead from Antti Pihlström's pass at 42:35. Less than a minute later, at 43:21, Niko Kapanen widened the Finns' lead to 1âÂÂ3 from a pass by Juhamatti Aaltonen.
Before the period's half, the Swedes tried to regroup through a time-out, but the puck dominance remained with the Finns. Janne Pesonen's 1âÂÂ4 goal at 56:41 and Mika Pyörälä's 1âÂÂ5 at 57:16 sealed the game for Finland. With 55 seconds remaining in the game clock, Antti Pihlström scored the match's last goal from a pass by Jani Lajunen, ending the final in a decisive 1âÂÂ6 victory for the Finnish team.
In Finland, the victory was celebrated at the Market Square in Helsinki on 16 May. The police estimated that 90,000âÂÂ100,000 people were present as the Finnish team took the stage. President Tarja Halonen was among the guests.