World Junior Championship roundup: Czechia tops Canada on late goal to reach semifinals

Thursday is the eighth day of the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is being held in Ottawa. The semifinals are Saturday, and the championship and third-place game are Sunday.

Quarterfinal round results

Czechia 4, Canada 3 -- Adam Jecho (St. Louis Blues) scored a power-play goal at 19:20 of the third period, and Czechia won at Canadian Tire Centre to reach the semifinals for the second straight year.

Czechia was awarded a power play after Canada defenseman Andrew Gibson was called for kneeing at 17:33. Late in the power play, Adam Jiricek (St. Louis Blues) had his shot attempt from the middle of the offensive zone blocked by Ethan Gauthier (Tampa Bay Lightning), but the puck rolled back to him and he passed to Jecho, who scored from the left face-off circle.

Petr Sikora (Washington Capitals), Jakub Stancl (Blues) and Eduard Sale (Seattle Kraken) also scored for Czechia, which defeated Canada 3-2 in the quarterfinals at the 2024 WJC in Sweden. Michael Hrabal (Utah Hockey Club) made 29 saves.

"It's something special, [winning] against Canada in Canada," Sale said. "It's really something special for us. It was a tough game and Canada is a great team. First period it was better and in the second period they were playing on the puck and it was tough to defend. Our goalie played a great game tonight, and the last penalty [on Canada] was the key in the game."

Czechia will play the United States in the semifinals on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN).

Tanner Howe (Pittsburgh Penguins), Porter Martone (2025 NHL Draft eligible) and Bradly Nadeau (Carolina Hurricanes) scored for Canada. Carter George (Los Angeles Kings) made 22 saves.

Canada finished the tournament with two goals at 5-on-5 in its final four games.

"We weren't scoring, and scoring generates your emotion," Canada coach Dave Cameron said. "... We were creating chances. Could you create more? Of course you could. If you look at the analytics, 5-on-5, we created enough chances to win the games, they just didn't go in. That's the nature of the game tonight."

Sikora made it 1-0 at 43 seconds of the first period when he finished a give-and-go with Vojtech Hradec (Utah), tipping a return pass from Hradec under George's pads. It was the first 5-on-5 goal allowed by Canada in five games.

Howe tied it 1-1 with a short-handed goal at 10:17. Brayden Yager (Winnipeg Jets) was stopped on a breakaway but backhanded the rebound to Howe, who directed it past Hrabal.

Stancl put Czechia ahead 2-1 with a power-play goal at 12:45. His shot went off the glass behind the net but bounced in front and went in off the glove of Canada defenseman Sam Dickinson (San Jose Sharks).

Sale made it 3-1 at 19:57 when he scored on the rush off a pass from Matej Mastalirsky (2025 draft eligible).

Martone made it 3-2 at 17:40 of the second period when he got to the front of the net and redirected a shot by Tanner Molendyk (Nashville Predators).

Nadeau tied it 3-3 at 15:42 of the third period, scoring from in close off the rebound of a shot by Luca Pinelli (Columbus Blue Jackets).

"We had a good last five minutes of the second and kind of brought it in the third," Canada defenseman Oliver Bonk (Philadelphia Flyers) said. "Tied it up, but then unfortunate, obviously that call. ... It's just tough getting the call like that, and then them scoring on the power play with 30-whatever seconds left. It's just tough when you had all the momentum."

Sale, Czechia's captain, said he made sure the team stayed positive after losing the lead.

"After their third goal the team was a little bit down, but i just said, 'Let's keep going, we will have a chance again,'" Sale said. "And after that we got the power play and scored, so it was a great game."

Canada forward Cole Beaudoin (Utah Hockey Club) was assessed a five-minute major for kneeing and a game misconduct at 9:03 of the first period.

United States 7, Switzerland 2 -- James Hagens (2025 NHL Draft eligible) and Ryan Leonard (Washington Capitals) each scored two goals at Canadian Tire Centre to help the United States advance to the semifinals.

"It felt great especially since this is a win-or-go-home game, so it was special and really fun," Hagens said.

Gabe Perreault (New York Rangers) had three assists, Zeev Buium (Minnesota Wild) had a goal and an assist, and Brodie Ziemer (Buffalo Sabres) and Oliver Moore (Chicago Blackhawks) each had two assists for the United States. Hampton Slukynsky (Los Angeles Kings) made 17 saves in his second start of the tournament.

The U.S. took a 4-1 lead in the first period.

"I think if you look at the way Switzerland's been playing and the teams they've been playing against (in the Group B pool), they were being outshot in the first period and even into the second by a pretty good margin," said Leonard, the U.S. captain. "We just wanted to focus on the first 5-10 minutes, and then we let our game take over."

The United States, the defending champion, clinched a semifinal berth for the eighth time in 10 years. It will play Czechia on Saturday.

Brandon Svoboda (San Jose Sharks), Hagens and Leonard scored in the opening 11:35 for a 3-0 lead to chase Switzerland goalie Christian Kirsch (Sharks), who allowed three goals on 10 shots. Elijah Neuenschwander (2025 draft eligible) replaced him and allowed four goals on 21 shots.

"It's always fun when you're getting the bounces and they're going in," Perreault said. "I thought we played well, had a lot of chances, and hopefully keep going on the last couple games."

Nils Rhyn (2025 draft eligible) pulled Switzerland within 3-1 at 15:04, scoring a short-handed goal on a slap shot from the point, before Danny Nelson (New York Islanders) scored on a deflection from the slot for a 4-1 lead at 16:44.

"We played as team in the third period; it was very good team effort," Rhyn said. "In the first and second, the goals were coming a little bit too fast through our own mistakes."

Buium pushed it to 5-1 at 7:45 of the second period with a power-play goal, knocking in a shot from the slot off a pass from Perreault.

"Zeev's playing and taking what's given and what's in front of him, and that's nice to see," U.S. coach David Carle said. "He's a very talented player who can do things 1-on-1 in space, but we're looking more like a collective unit, which is a good thing for us."

Hagens scored his second of the game for a 6-1 lead at 15:03 off a give-and-go with Perreault. Leonard then made it 7-1 with a power-play goal at 16:23. The Boston College line of Leonard, Hagens and Perreault combined for four goals and seven points.

"We had a lot of chances and when we missed a couple, we don't get frustrated and stuck with it," Hagens said. "We've had a long year together (at Boston College) and being here and being able to come from school, it's been awesome. We know if we keep sticking to it, it'll work out."

Andro Kaderli (2025 draft eligible) scored on a rebound from the slot for Switzerland at 6:53 of the third period for the 7-2 final.

The United States is undefeated against Switzerland in 27 games at the World Juniors (25 wins, two ties). The U.S. is 15-9 in the quarterfinals.

Sweden 3, Latvia 2 -- David Edstrom (Nashville Predators) scored and Sweden held off a Latvia rally to advance to the semifinals.

"He's been awesome," Sweden captain Axel Sandin-Pellikka (Detroit Red Wings) said of Edstrom. "It feels like he wins every face-off. He's really important. He fights hard, he always wants to win the puck battles. He's awesome."

Anton Wahlberg (Buffalo Sabres) and Zeb Forsfjall (Seattle Kraken) each scored for Sweden, and Melker Thelin (Utah Hockey Club) made 11 saves.

Sweden will play Finland on Saturday.

Eriks Mateiko (Washington Capitals) had two goals, Markus Sieradzkis (2025 NHL Draft eligible) had two assists, and Linards Feldbergs (2025 draft eligible) made 47 saves for Latvia.

"I think overall this team was probably the best team I ever played on in the Latvian junior teams," Mateiko said. "I think we played our hearts out every day. It's definitely a tough one today, going out like that. Close game. But a big thanks to all the guys and Feldbergs, especially. We wouldn't be here without our goalie."

Feldbergs finished the tournament with a .929 save percentage in starting all five games for Latvia. He faced 210 shots, 60 more than any goalie in the tournament.

"I think this is one of the best weeks of my life," Feldbergs said. "I'm going to remember this tournament, [my] last World Juniors. It's going to stay in my head and in my heart for the rest of my life."

Forsfjall gave Sweden a 1-0 lead at 8:30 of the first period when he beat Feldbergs with a wrist shot under the glove on the rush.

Wahlberg one-timed a pass from Sandin-Pellikka in the slot to make it 2-0 at 9:52.

Edstrom scored on a rebound at the edge of the crease on the power play to push it to 3-0 at 3:57 of the second period.

Sweden thought it had taken a 4-0 lead when Edstrom scored at 9:52, but Latvia challenged for offside and the call on the ice was overturned.

Mateiko cut it to 3-1 at 10:13 when his wrist shot from the top of the slot beat Thelin past his blocker.

Mateiko scored his second goal of the game to cut it to 3-2 at 18:50 when he jammed in a rebound at the edge of the crease.

"I think we had maybe five or seven minutes in the second [period] where we were more, like, forcing the game," Sweden coach Magnus Havelid said. "I could see it in the passing and stuff like that. Sometimes the game goes from one side to another side so quick because of the goals they scored. But in the third period, I think we played as good as we can."

Finland 5, Slovakia 3 -- Jesse Nurmi (New York Islanders) had two goals and an assist for Finland, which advanced to the semifinals with a win at TD Place.

“It’s awesome,” Finland goalie Petteri Rimpinen (2025 NHL Draft Eligible) said. “It’s a dream come true for now, but we still need to get two more wins.”

Jesse Kiiskinen (Detroit Red Wings) had a goal and an assist, and Heikki Ruohonen (Philadelphia Flyers) had two assists for Finland. Kasper Halttunen (Sharks) and Rasmus Kumpulainen (Wild) scored, and Rimpinen made 33 saves.

Finland will face Sweden on Saturday.

“We survived,” Rimpinen said. “But I think we could’ve done better. Like, it got a little chaotic when they got the third goal. But we survived. Lots of blocks. I’m happy about it.”

Dalibor Dvorsky (St. Louis Blues) and Juraj Pekarcik (Blues) each had a goal and an assist, and Robert Fedor (2025 draft Eligible) scored for Slovakia, which outshot Finland 36-18. Samuel Urban (2025 draft eligible) made 11 saves in relief of Alan Lendak (2025 draft eligible), who was pulled after allowing three goals on five shots.

“It was a crazy feeling,” Pekarcik said of his emotions when the game ended. “My third year, this is my last year here. I was crying in the locker room and I was really proud of this group. I was really hoping we were going to win that game. It didn’t happen. And hopefully all the boys will have good careers and I’m really proud of them and I love all the fans in Slovakia.”

Kiiskinen gave Finland a 1-0 lead at 1:10 of the first period when he scored on a Nurmi rebound in front.

Nurmi then made it 2-0 at 3:54 with a wrist shot into the top right corner on the rush.

Halttunen pushed it to 3-0 at 13:03 with a wrist shot from the left face-off dot.

Finland thought it had scored 36 seconds into the second period when the puck went in off the skate of Topias Hynninen (2025 draft eligible) in front, but Slovakia challenged for goaltender interference and the call on the ice was overturned.

Slovakia defenseman Luka Radivojevic (2025 draft eligible) left the game after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Emil Pieniniemi (Pittsburgh Penguins) at 9:32. Pieniniemi received a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct.

Pekarcik cut it to 3-1 on the power play at 10:15 when he took a cross-slot pass from Dvorsky and beat Rimpinen over the right shoulder with a wrist shot. It was the first power-play goal allowed by Finland in the tournament.

“They just took some guys to the net, pucks to the net and played great overall,” Rimpinen said of Slovakia. “We got a great start, but after that, the Slovaks played really good hockey.”

Kumpulainen made it 4-1 at 15:53 when he scored on a loose puck in front.

Fedor converted a centering pass from Roman Kukumberg (2025 draft eligible) to cut it to 4-2 at 9:13 of the third period, and Dvorsky made it 4-3 at 16:04 after he found a loose puck and lifted it over Rimpinen.

“I feel like we had a really good game,” Pekarcik said. “It was our best game, by far, here. We shot everything, had every chance, we created a lot of offense. I mean, it’s hard to say. I’m disappointed by the game. We lost and it’s hard to describe right now.”

Nurmi put a wrist shot bar-down from the slot for the 5-3 final at 18:01.

Relegation game

Germany 4, Kazakhstan 3 -- Julius Sumpf (2025 draft eligible) scored a tiebreaking power-play goal at 4:03 of the third period and Germany won the relegation-round game and assured itself of a spot in the field for the 2026 World Junior Championship in Minnesota.

On the face-off after a penalty to Kazakhstan forward Alexander Kim (2025 draft eligible), Sumpf won the puck back to defenseman Edwin Tropmann (2025 draft eligible), who got it back to Sumpf in the left face-off circle, and his shot beat goalie Vladimir Nikitin (Ottawa Senators) to the short side, between his blocker and the post.

Sumpf also had two assists, and Tropmann, Germany's captain, also scored a goal. Maxim Schafer (2025 draft eligible) scored two goals, and Linus Vieillard (2025 draft eligible) made 28 saves.

"It's really big for the whole country," Sumpf said of staying in the main draw for the WJC. "It's always big to play in the World Juniors, we didn't want to get relegated again with our group. At the [World Under-18 Championship level] we got relegated with our [2005-born players]. We didn't want to do that and we did everything to stay up in the top group and that's what we did."

Artur Gross (2025 draft eligible) had a goal and an assist for Kazakhstan, and Asanali Ruslanuly (2025 draft eligible) and Nikita Sitnikov (2025 draft eligible) scored. Nikitin made 18 saves.

Kazakhstan led the game 3-1 when Gross scored at 2:02 of the second period, but Germany scored power-play goals 21 seconds apart to tie it.

With a 5-on-3 advantage, Schafer got to the front of the net and tipped a shot by Sumpf between Nikitin's pads at 3:58. Then with Germany on a 5-on-4 power play, Tropmann scored on a wrist shot from the point at 4:19.

"It was a shock to be down like that but we were lucky when we got the 5-on-3," Sumpf said. "Our power play is really good, so we knew we could come back."

Kazakhstan, which was playing at the top level of the World Juniors for the first time since 2020, will play in the 2026 WJC Division I Group A tournament.

"I think in every game we could have played better," Kazakhstan forward Alexander Kim (2025 draft eligible) said. "We had some good moments against Slovakia, when we tied the game and went to overtime [5-4 loss Monday], but we still have a lot of work to do. We have to learn from our mistakes. We have to win Division I and come back and stay here."

NHL.com deputy managing editor Adam Kimelman, senior draft writer Mike G. Morreale and independent correspondent Callum Fraser contributed to this report