The United States defeated Finland 2–1 in a shootout, to win its fifth consecutive and ninth overall title.

[1] Since the first IIHF Women's World Championship in 1990 and the first women's tournament at the Winter Olympics in 1998, the American and Canadian national teams have played in the finals on all occasions except for the 2006 Winter Olympics, where Sweden played Canada after eliminating the United States in the semi-final.

Finland stunned Canada in the semi-finals, beating them by a score of 4–2, their first-ever semifinal victory and advanced to the gold medal game for the first time in IIHF Women's World Championship history.

The IIHF released a press statement the next day citing rules 186 and 183ii as the reasons for overturning the goal:-According to IIHF Playing Rule 186 v. Goaltender and Goal/Goal Crease Disallowed: An attacking skater who makes contact other than incidental with a goaltender who is out of his goal crease during game action will be assessed a minor penalty for interference.

(Had Nieminen's goal stood, Finland would've become the first team to beat both the US and Canada in a major women's hockey tournament.)

[9] Finnish broadcaster Yle released viewership numbers of over 2,3 million people watching the finals on TV in Finland - more than half the country's population.