<p>OTTAWA – The United States and Finland will meet in the gold medal game for the first time since 2019 after winning their respective semifinal games on Saturday. </p>



<p>Sweden and Czechia will meet in a rematch of the 2022 bronze medal game at 3:30 PM ET, while USA and Finland will battle at 7:30 PM ET.</p>



<p>Finland won the championship game back in 2019, their last medal to date. USA, meanwhile, is looking to win consecutive gold for the first time ever with this being just the first time they’ve made it back to the final after winning the championship.</p>



<p>USA is chasing its seventh gold, while Finland is seeking their sixth. Between the USA, Finland, and Canada, three countries have won every gold medal since 2013.</p>



<p>Here’s how everything broke down from the two-game slate on Saturday:</p><div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="139"></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">USA stops Sweden to advance</h2>



<p>The United States has clinched a spot in the 2025 World Junior Championship final after beating Czechia 4-1 in the second semifinal on Saturday.</p>



<p>The Americans opened the scoring just three minutes in. Shortly after leaving the penalty box, Ryan Leonard beat Jakub Dvorak in a 1-on-1 situation before getting the puck in front to Gabe Perreault. Perreault made no mistake, beating Michael Hrabal to make it 1-0. </p>



<p>But six minutes later, Jakub Stancl answered back, beating Trey Augustine with a glove-side wrister to make it 1-1. That score remained until 33:41, when Cole Eiserman – USA’s 13th forward – blasted in a one-timer from Trevor Connelly to make it a 2-1 hockey game. A goal from Leonard with about five minutes left sunk the Czechs, giving the United States the victory.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="1" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="133"></div>



<p>Here’s a look at the top performers from Saturday’s second semifinal:</p>



<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Czechia</span></strong></p>



<p><strong>#21 Jakub Stancl, RW (St. Louis Blues):</strong> Stancl is sitting at six goals through six games after another excellent release. That is goals in back to back games after going pointless in the two before that. I love his shot and the way he commands the puck in the offensive zone.</p>



<p><strong>#30 Michael Hrabal, G (Utah HC):</strong> It wasn’t the busiest game for Hrabal, but he was forced to make some quality saves. The breakaway stop on Leonard was very important in keeping the game tied early in the second, and he made an excellent stretch save about five minutes into the third to keep it a 2-1 game. I have been critical of Hrabal’s play in recent years because we’ve seen him absolutely fall apart but I do think he’s a big reason why the Czechs are this far in the first place.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="2" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="156"></div>



<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">USA</span></strong></p>



<p><strong>#28 Zeev Buium, D (Minnesota Wild):</strong> Buium played all situations for USA. But more importantly, he did an excellent job of shutting opponents down at the blueline and preventing any high-danger opportunities. He hasn’t exploded offensively, but he’s been fantastic at keeping opponents to the outside on the rush. You know, like a defenseman should do.</p>



<p><strong>#9 Ryan Leonard, RW (Washington Capitals):</strong> Leonard was everywhere early in this one. He took a penalty for shoving a Czech player in front of the net, but made up for it with a beautiful assist after beating Dvorak in a 1-on-1 play. He then squeaked past the Czech defenders to create a breakaway chance, only to get stopped by Hrabal. His goal late in the game sunk the Czechs. As always, I loved how physically involved Leonard was all game long.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="3" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="139"></div>



<p><strong>#34 Gabe Perreault, LW (New York Rangers):</strong> With a goal and an assist, Perreault was outstanding again. The obvious built-in chemistry with Boston College linemates Leonard and James Hagens helps, but Perreault is so smart at getting the puck where it needs to be. I like how he often draws opponents to the perimeter before setting up one of his linemates in the slot. It seems to have worked quite often in Ottawa</p>



<p><strong>#1 Trey Augustine, G (Detroit Red Wings):</strong> Augustine probably wants Stancl’s goal back, but he was excellent the rest of the way as the Czechs kept the pressure up. His biggest save was a diving right pad stop midway through the period – a game-saving stop, no doubt. Augustine has proven time after time that he can rise to the occasion when the games start to matter more, and the extra rest after not playing since Jan. 1 might have helped him stay rested and relaxed today.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="4" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="160"></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Finland edges Sweden in extra time</h2>



<p>It took nearly a full 10 minutes of overtime, but Finland will play for gold after beating Sweden 4-3 on Saturday.</p>



<p>The Finns are looking to win gold for the first time since 2019, and their first medal since losing to Canada in overtime of the 2022 championship game. Sweden, meanwhile, will play for a medal for the fourth straight year in the bronze medal game at 3:30 PM ET, with the title game taking place at 7:30 PM ET.</p>



<p>The Swedes got on the board first, with Otto Stenberg ending a 21-minute deadlock with a great shot on an odd-man rush. But three minutes later, Emil Hemming converted after taking Konsta Helenius’ pass, beating Melker Thelin to make it 1-1. Finland then scored to take their first lead of the game at 33:28, with Jesse Kiiskinen tapping in the feed from Topias Hynninen to make it 2-1 on the power play.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="5" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="152"></div>



<p>The teams traded goals from there. At 38:07, Stenberg snagged his second of the game, while Arttu Alasiurua scored with 20.1 seconds left in the middle stanza to give the Finns the lead again. At 51:32, Wilhelm Hallquisth tied it up to make it 3-3 and force a 10-minute overtime.</p>



<p>It was a slow-paced extra frame, with neither team looking to make too much of a push. But with 37.5 seconds left, Benjamin Rautiainen scored from the goal line, beating Thelin from a difficult angle to win the game.</p>



<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Finland</span></strong></p>



<p><strong>#19 Konsta Helenius, C (Buffalo Sabres):</strong>&nbsp;Helenius had four assists to help get the Finns into the game during the second. It feels like he’s been getting better every single game. He’s such a smart puck distributor who doesn’t often try and play too fancy, but he has the hockey IQ and general on-ice awareness to get the disk where he wants it.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="6" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="152"></div>



<p><strong>#33 Aron Kiviharju, D (Minnesota Wild):</strong>&nbsp;This was my favorite game from Kiviharju. He scored a goal that was later taken away for being offside, but he helped make that happen after starting the play from his own zone. He had a couple of other decent looks that fell apart but this was the game that I seemed to notice him the most over the past two weeks.</p>



<p><strong>#32 Emil Hemming, LW (Dallas Stars):</strong>&nbsp;Outside of the tripping penalty midway through the game, Hemming was excellent. This was his best game of the tournament, and he was rewarded by scoring a goal and adding the primary assist on the 3-2 goal. Hemming was a bit quiet early on but it feels the last few games were good for the second-year tournament participant.</p>



<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Sweden</span></strong></p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="7" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="131"></div>



<p><strong>#25 Otto Stenberg, LW (St. Louis Blues):&nbsp;</strong>Stenberg was tremendous today, scoring the first two Swedish goals. He has a great shot release and was one of the best two-way threats for the Swedes, as well. I like how he can be deceptive on the rush –&nbsp;often making opponents think he’s about to make a pass before firing a shot in. Sweden needed him to perform today and he delivered.</p>



<p><strong>#9 Theo Lindstein, D (St. Louis Blues):</strong>&nbsp;Lindstein was having a great game before he assisted on the 2-2 goal, but that was nice, too. The Blues prospect hasn’t been as good this year as he was back in 2024 but the Swedes kept using him late in the game as they needed someone to help generate extra offense. His own-zone play was solid, as well.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="8" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="134"></div>



<p><strong>#16 Felix Unger Sorum, RW (Carolina Hurricanes):&nbsp;</strong>FUS has been here for nearly every Swedish game, and for good reason. He battles his tail off, and it was his hard work to retrieve the puck that led to the 3-3 goal. The AHL forward rarely loses a 1-on-1 battle and finds himself in open spaces quite often.</p>
