Sunrise, Fla. – Florida Panthers forwards Aleksander Barkov and Anton Lundell won gold medals today in Finland’s 1-0 overtime victory over Switzerland at the 2026 IIHF World Championship. Lundell recorded his first assist on Consta Helenius’ overtime goal.
Barkov is the captain of the Finnish national team, and his medal is his second at the IIHF World Championship, following a silver medal in 2016. He led the team with 11 points (3-8-11) in 10 tournament games en route to being selected to the tournament’s All-Star team. He previously won a bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics with current Panthers assistant coach Tuomo Lutz.
Lundell’s medal is his second at the IIHF World Championships, having won silver in 2021. He scored four goals, two assists and six points in 10 games of the tournament, including his first assist for the golden goal in extra time against Switzerland. He helped Finland win a bronze medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics, and previously won gold at the 2019 IIHF U20 WJC and 2018 IIHF U18 WJC, as well as bronze at the 2021 U20 WJC.
Five Panthers players represented their country at the 2026 IIHF World Championship, and all five scored at least two goals. Matthew Tkachuk had seven points in five games for the United States (4-3, 7 draws), and Marek Alscher had two points in eight games for the Czech Republic (2-0, 2 draws). Sandis Vilmanis tied the all-time scoring record for a Latvian skater at the IIHF World Championship with 11 points (4 wins, 7 losses, 11 draws), making him the second-most points of any skater who made it through the group stage of the 2026 tournament.
Panthers fans can check out 2026 IIHF World Championship recaps and stories at FloridaPanthers.com/WorldChampionship.
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