Not since King Gustav's boats sailed the Baltic has Sweden dominated their adversaries the same way the Swedes ruled the realm at the World Junior Championships.

Sweden capped a flawless run through this year's World Juniors with a 4-2 win over Czechia on Monday night, suffocating Czechia at both ends of the ice with crisp passing, near-perfect player rotations, and an attack that featured nine players with at least six points. 

Casper Juustovaara opened the scoring for Sweden, depositing a Jack Berglund pass while Sweden was technically shorthanded, though a delayed call went against Czechia when the goal was scored. 

Special teams would also play a role in Sweden's second goal, this time coming from Victor Eklund, who banged in a shot from a foot out of the goal crease on the power play. On the penalty kill, the Swedes were a perfect four-for-four. 

From those two goals, and given that Czechia couldn't get anything going on the man advantage, it appeared to be a matter of time before Sweden won its first gold medal since 2012.

That is, until Adam Jiriicek and Matej Kubiesa scored twice to pull Czechia within one with just 23 seconds left in regulation, throwing the result into question…for a few seconds. The threat was neutralized when Ivar Stenberg tallied an empty-net goal to ice the win for Sweden eight seconds after Kubiesa's goal.

"I'm so proud of this team," Sweden alternate captain Leo Sahlin Wellenius said after the win. "It started day one with training camp. I can't describe it."

On the scoresheet, it will appear that the Swedish forwards did the bulk of the heavy lifting. Unsurprisingly, seven of the team's nine leading scorers in the tournament play forward. That's the way hockey goes. 

But the defensive core, led by top pairing Leo Sahlin Wellenius and Felix Carell, impressed fans and foes alike over the course of the last two weeks. 

"They don't make mistakes," Czechia forward Vaclav Nestrasil said of the Swedish defenders. "They know the way to play. They're well-coached." 

Sahlin Wellenius said the group's commitment to the position was one of its key factors in its success. 

"We have stability, and first (we play) defense, then we look for offensive plays," Sahlin Wellenius said. "That's the big difference from (us) and other teams." 

Sweden concluded the tournament with 16 goals allowed, the second-fewest among all teams. Switzerland, which allowed the fewest goals, played two fewer games than Sweden. 

After nearly two weeks and seven games, Sahlin Wellinus and Co. are ready to soak in the glory. 

"It was good, we played well," Sahlin Wellenius summed up the team's performance. 

"We're going to enjoy this."