Sweden had won all four of their games in the lower-ranked Group B before causing a real upset by beating Czech Republic 2-0 in the quarter-finals. However, the USA, with a perfect record in Group A and a 6-0 win over Italy in the last eight, were going to be by far the Swedes' toughest test.
And the Americanss laid down a marker with just over five minutes gone in the game - the Swedish defence was stretched by a long period of US attack, and when the puck was played back to Cayla Barnes, she tried her luck from the right, and the puck sailed through a crowd and into the net.
That was USA's fifth shot of the game, which came before the Swedes had had one. There was a risk of the floodgates opening when Sara Hjalmarsson was called for boarding in the ninth minute, but Sweden surviveed their opponents powerplay and the rest of the period without falling further behind.
Damkronorna were down 13-2 on the shot count when period two got underway, but that didn't stop them coming out strongly, taking six of the first eight efforts on goal, although Alexandra Carpenter hitting the crossbar was the closest either side came.
Sweden's opportunity seemed to be coming when Hayley Scamurra was called for tripping, but not only could they not make use of their first powerplay, but they were given a sucker punch just over a minute after the Americans got back to full strength.
Hanna Bilka had space to motor into the Swedish zone on the right, before sliding the puck across to Taylor Heise, whose shot just managed to squeeze past Ebba Svensson Trapp.
Ulf Lundberg's side kept pushing to get back into the game, but another powerplay came and went after Kirsten Simms was called for interference, then a disastrous final five minutes sent the USA to the final with a period to spare.
A loose puck deep the the Swedish zone was comfortably collected by Bilka, who fed it back for Abbey Murphy to strike home number three despite a very tight angle. It was four just under a minute later, when Laila Edwards had time to pick her spot from distance, and the slightest touch from Kendall Coyne Schofield took it past Svensson Trapp.
Sweden then replaced Svensson Trapp with Emma Soderberg, but it made little difference, as she too was picking the puck out of her net within seconds, as Britta Curl-Salemme found Scamurra with a well-timed pass from behind the net, setting up a simple finish for 5-0.
The European side kept pushing in the third period, but when Lina Ljungblom's shot in the final seconds was saved by Aerin Frankel, the buzzer sounded on a 5-0 victory for the USA, with Frankel taking her save tally to 23.
Sweden will now face the loser of the Canada vs Switzerland semi-final in the bronze medal match on Thursday 19th, while the USA will play the winner for gold later the same day.
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