It was a day for the Swedes at the Whistler Olympic Park as cross country great Marcus Hellner took the last stretch of the 4X10-km relay with enough of a distance to safely pluck a blue and yellow flag from the stands before crossing the finish line.
Having also won the pursuit, Hellner pushed hard for a time 1:45:05.4.
Norway rallied in the final leg and took the silver, 15.9 seconds behind, with the Czech Republic earning bronze, beaten 16.5 seconds.
The finish line wasn't quite as sweet to Canada's team members, however, who, after a best Games showing ever, appeared to run out of steam.
Devon Kershaw, Ivan Babikov, Alex Harvey and George Grey finished seventh in the men's 4x10km relay in a time of 1:47:03.2.
"I'm obviously not recovered from my team sprint," said Kershaw.
However Grey noted the Canadians "have to be proud" of the day's race.
"It was our best finish," he said.
And, he added, the future looks bright for Canada and the sport since Canada's previous best finish in the 4x10km relay was ninth in Calgary in 1988.
Cross country men's events continue Sunday (Feb. 28) with the 50-km mass start classic.
