After a day off from the 2025 World Junior Championship, play resumed in Ottawa on Saturday, with four teams vying for a chance to compete for the gold medal.
Semifinalists Sweden, Finland, Czechia and the United States took the ice on the second-last day of the tournament — Sweden and Finland clashing in a late afternoon matchup at Canadian Tire Centre, followed by Czechia and the U.S. in an evening showdown at the same venue.
The U.S. came into this year’s tournament as the defending gold medallists, while Finland (six years), Sweden (13 years), and Czechia (24 years) are all currently in the midst of multi-year gold-medal droughts. Following Saturday’s results, it will either be a two-peat for the Americans, or we’ll see the Finns crowned champs for the first time since 2019 as the two teams advanced to the final. Meanwhile, the two semifinal losers, Sweden and Czechia, will now face off for the bronze. Both medal games are set for Sunday.
Finland, who didn’t medal last year, booked their spot in the final with a 4-3 overtime win over last year’s silver medallists, Sweden. It marked their fourth semifinal meeting in world juniors history.
Starting with a scoreless first period, Sweden and Finland woke up offensively in the second — with some help from the five penalties handed out. The Swedes struck first, but Finland responded with two consecutive goals — three if you count the disallowed one, which was deemed offside after a lengthy review. Each team would then score once more before the frame ended, with Finland’s late goal giving them a 3-2 lead heading into the second intermission.
For the most part, the two teams looked evenly matched through the game’s first 20 minutes, with Finland holding the edge in the following 20. However, the final frame saw Sweden take over. The Swedes held the Finns to just three shots on goal, compared to their 20, and managed to even things up with a goal just over halfway through the frame. Tied 3-3 as regulation ended, the game went into overtime.
A little over three minutes into overtime, Finland took a high-sticking penalty, putting themselves in a precarious position at four-on-three. But with their world junior-best penalty kill (94.1 per cent entering Saturday’s game), the Finns successfully thwarted the Swedes, despite facing their top-ranked power play. With under two minutes left, before the game would head to a shootout, Sweden was called for holding. This time, Sweden’s struggling penalty kill (62.5 per cent entering Saturday’s game) couldn’t hold up, conceding the game-winning goal to Finland as the clock dwindled down to the final seconds.
The U.S. secured their spot in the final against Finland by defeating Czechia 4-1, marking their second consecutive trip to the championship game. Czechia, last year’s third-place finishers, will return to the bronze-medal match for the second year in a row.
The U.S. opened the scoring with a goal three minutes in, and it took another six for Czechia to respond with one of their own. The 1-1 tie held for a while until the Americans netted their second on the power play, the only goal of the middle frame. Czechia applied significant pressure as the third began, dominating play in the U.S. zone. However, it was the Americans who ultimately tallied the next goal, increasing their lead to two. During a U.S. power play in the final minutes, Czechia pulled their goalie to avoid losing a skater at a crucial moment, but an empty-netter three minutes later sealed the victory for the U.S.
With six gold-medal finishes in their history at the tournament, the U.S. has the chance to do something this year that they've never done before: win gold back-to-back. This actually marks the first time they've returned to the championship game after a winning year. And while Czechia will surely be disappointed they couldn't build on their quarterfinal win over Canada and improve on their bronze medal from 2024, they still have a shot at medalling for the third straight year — a feat they haven't achieved since 1996-98.
In the meantime, here's a look at the three stars from the semifinal games.
3rd star: Trey Augustine, USA
In the United States’ biggest game of the tournament so far — a title soon to be claimed by tomorrow’s final — Augustine delivered his best effort. He allowed just one goal over 60 minutes, stopping the 26 other shots he faced.
With his team’s victory, the 19-year-old etched his name in world juniors history. He now holds the record for the most all-time wins by an American goaltender at the tournament, with 11.
His best stop of the night — and there’s no debate about it — was an incredible toe save to deny Czechia’s Adam Jecho a goal while the U.S. led 2-1 with over half of the third period still to play.
Across his four appearances at the tournament this year, Augustine has allowed 10 goals on 132 shots, posting a .924 save percentage and a 2.48 goals-against average. Drafted 41st overall by the Detroit Red Wings in 2023, he has a .930 save percentage and a 1.98 goals-against average in 14 games this season with Michigan State.
2nd star: Konsta Helenius, Finland
Helenius had a hand in three of Finland’s four goals, including their most crucial one. With three assists on Saturday, the 18-year-old forward led his team in points.
Finland’s first goal, scored just one second after their power play expired, saw Helenius set up Emil Hemming in tight to beat Swedish netminder Melker Thelin.
He also recorded a secondary assist on Finland’s next goal, which came on the power play. Helenius fed the puck to Topias Hynnien, whose hard pass toward the net was deflected in by Jesse Kiiskinen.
Helenius earned his third assist of the night on Finland’s overtime winner during the power play by passing it to Benjamin Rautiainen, who fired a shot from an awkward angle that managed to sneak past Thelin, securing the win for Finland. As a result, the country now has a shot at winning their sixth world juniors gold.
A prospect for the Buffalo Sabres, Helenius was drafted by the organization as the 14th overall pick this past summer. Shortly after, Helenius signed a three-year, entry-level deal. Spending this season with the Sabres’ AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, he has recorded 17 points (six goals and 11 assists) in 28 games so far.
1st star(s): Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault, USA
This American duo clearly has chemistry, and the two goals they combined on against Czechia were great displays of it. The first was scored by Perreault and assisted by Leonard, while the second was the reverse.
Perreault’s 1-0 goal came to fruition after U.S. defenceman Aram Minnetian attempted to lift the puck out of the zone, only for a Czech skater to knock it down. Leonard then seized the puck and carried it up ice while being pressured by two Czechs. Even as he fell to the ice, Leonard still managed to get a pass across to Perreault, who then fed it five-hole on goaltender Michael Hrabel.
Leonard’s goal, which put the U.S. up 3-1, was just as nice. With Czechia making an ill-timed change, Minnetian intercepted the puck as it was about to slide down to the U.S. end, sending it to Perreault at the blue line. Driving to the net, Perreault found a wide-open Leonard, who easily tapped it in as Hrabel focused on Perreault.
“I think just playing together for so long. It’s so fun out there just playing with him. He’s so smart. Just got to have my stick on the ice and be ready for it,” said Leonard post-game when asked about the connection between him and his linemate.
Leonard and Perreault, both 19, are teammates at Boston College in their sophomore seasons. Perreault has 23 points (seven goals and 16 assists) in 16 games, while Leonard has 19 points (12 goals and seven assists) across the same span. The pair are highly regarded prospects for their respective NHL organizations — with Leonard selected eighth overall by the Washington Capitals in 2023 and Perreault chosen 23rd overall by the New York Rangers that same year.
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