Sweden had plenty to celebrate after their nailbiting win

Finland took the lead in the first period courtesy of Kimmo Timonen before the Swedes took control in the second period of the tie.

First Henrik Zetteberg equalised and then Niklas Kronwall put Sweden ahead.

Finland, though, hit back in the final second of the period through Ville Peltonen, only for the Finns to be denied by Nicklas Lidstrom's winner.

His goal came just eight seconds into the final period and, despite a raft of Finnish shots on goal, Sweden held firm for their first gold since beating Canada at the 1994 Games in Lillehammer.

"It's a great feeling," said Swedish forward Daniel Alfredsson.

"We knew going in that we had a good team and we had to play our best to win. We had four lines that could contribute every night and that was the difference in the tournament."

Finland defender Toni Lydman said that the silver was still a good achievement for the team.

"It's a big thing for a little country like ours," he said. "We've come back to our supporters with a medal which is important."

It was Finland's first defeat of the Games - they had won all seven of their previous matches on the ice.