The 2025 world juniors came to an end with a golden goal.
Team USA won the gold medal in overtime, avenging their round-robin loss to the Finns. In the bronze medal game, Czechia withstood tremendous pressure from Sweden to win in a marathon shootout.
Here’s what stood out the most in the final day of world juniors action.
USA Mounts Come Back to Capture Back-To-Back Gold Medals
After going down 3-1 early in the second period with Finland carrying the momentum, the Americans put their foot on the gas and scored two goals in the final three minutes of the frame. That evened the score and eventually propelled them to their second-straight gold medal.
The game started a bit shaky for the Americans. A Finnish power-play goal put them down early, but top 2025 NHL draft prospect James Hagens scored quickly to even the score on a loose puck around the crease. Finland added another before the period was over on a wicked shot off the rush by Tuomas Uronen. The Finns added another goal fairly quickly into the second period to make it 3-1.
The Finns kept up the pressure, but as the period wound down, something clicked for the Americans. The desperation of being down in a do-or-die final took over, and they started to push back.
A fortunate bounce got them back into the game. Brandon Svoboda circled high in the zone and floated the puck on net from the blueline. The puck hit a Finnish defender on the way in, deflecting down and bouncing the opposite way the goalie was sliding, drifting by the helpless netminder.
Less than two minutes later, Cole Hutson picked up a drop pass from Ryan Leonard and cut to the middle, dangling through traffic and sniping it on net. It beat the Finnish netminder, and the Americans flipped the game on its head. They killed Finland’s momentum, and the Americans took over heading into the third period.
Team USA kept the pressure on to start the third, thwarting the Finns whenever they had the puck and easily turning play around. The Finns weren’t going down without a fight, though. They were playing physically, attempting to keep the Americans to the outside and playing their typically strong systemic hockey. They were unable to break the tie in the third, but they had all of the momentum going into overtime.
That momentum continued, but Petteri Rimpinen kept Finland alive as the tournament’s top goalie. Zeev Buium had a beautiful chance. Tournament MVP Leonard danced through the defense but was stopped by Rimpinen doing the splits. There was a beautiful chance for Hagens early on. Rimpinen stood tall for the Finns as they bled chance after chance.
After total domination for Team USA when it came to possession, Teddy Stiga broke up ice and got in behind the defense. Buium spotted him and hit him with the perfect breakout pass to spring him for a breakaway. Stiga made no mistake, making a simple move to open Rimpinen up and putting in by him.
The Americans go back-to-back for the gold, and they do it on Canadian soil, which makes it all the more sweet. It wasn’t perfect, but the team found a way to win when it mattered most.
Related: Ryan Leonard At The World Juniors: “It’s Cool To Be Hated.”
Czechia Outlasts Sweden For Bronze
The bronze medal game at the WJC is always a good watch because teams have to find the motivation after losing their semifinal matchup and put forth an effort that results in a medal around their neck.
It seemed like neither team wanted this one to end, though, as the 14-round shootout to decide the game was the longest in tournament history.
The game started with a Jakub Stancl one-timer getting Czechia on the board early, recording his tournament-leading seventh goal just under four minutes into the game. In every game they’ve won at this tournament, the Czech team has gotten on the board first.
Just a few minutes later, David Edstrom got Sweden on the board by banging in a loose puck around the net on the power play. Edstrom was Sweden’s best player early on in the game, consistently making good plays around the offensive zone and staying responsible in his own end.
The teams traded goals in the second period before things tightened up, and the game became a goaltender duel for the third period and overtime. It wasn’t that the teams couldn’t generate chances, but both netminders made big save after big save.
Sweden goalie Marcus Gidlof showed why he should have been the starter throughout the tournament, using all his length and athleticism throughout the contest. Czechia’s Michael Hrabal put on a display of technical ability, consistently cutting down shots and thwarting the Swedes’ attack.
When the game went to overtime, the Swedes had control of the play, and they danced and weaved through the neutral zone to get themselves moving laterally in the offensive zone. But they didn’t make much of their large share of puck control, taking only six shots. Czechia seemed to concede the puck to the Swedes but took advantage of every mistake to go down the ice and generate nearly as many chances off counter-attacks. Neither team could solve the opposing netminder, though.
The shootout was a marathon. After Sweden’s Axel Sandin-Pellikka – the tournament’s top defenseman for the second-straight year – and Czechia’s Stancl scored in the second round, the two goalies followed that up with 20-straight saves. Czechia’s Eduard Sale and Sweden’s Otto Stenberg scored, and then they were both chosen to go again.
Stenberg walked in and rang the puck off the post. That meant that Sale had the chance to win it on the 28th shot attempt of the shootout. Forehand, backhand, top shelf. The Czech captain clinched the team’s third-straight medal at the tournament, all of which he has been a part of.
Czechia’s win was great for this year’s team, but in the bigger picture, it asserts the nation as a true contender moving forward and a team full of players who can compete at the highest level.
Czechia has become the most underrated hockey power internationally and they seem intent on not being underrated for long. Sale’s run at the world juniors is over, and so are so many others, but this Czech squad is here to stay.
Related: ‘Build Him A Statue’: Czechia’s Eduard Sale Plays Hero To Win World Juniors Bronze Over Sweden
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