The United States and Finland will face each other in the final of the World Junior Hockey Championship after beating the Czech Republic and Sweden respectively in the final four on Saturday.
The Czech Republic, Canada’s defeater in the quarter-finals, was no match for the American machine. The latter won 4 to 1 thanks to Cole Eiserman’s winning goal in the second period. Ryan Leonard and Oliver Moore sealed the outcome of the match at the end of regular time by scoring in turn.
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The Finns had to work much harder to secure their place in the final. They defeated combative Sweden 4-3 in overtime. Benjamin Rautiainen played the hero in overtime, taking advantage of a numerical advantage to move the strings with less than a minute remaining in the overtime period.
The Swedes had completely dominated the third period, notably amassing 20 shots against only three. Wilhelm Hallquisth scored the only goal of the period, allowing Sweden to tie the game and force overtime.
The second period was quite eventful, since five goals were scored. Arttu Alasiurua, Emil Hemming (Dallas Stars) and Jesse Kiiskinen (Nashville Predators) were the Finns’ scorers during this engagement. The Swedes’ response came from the stick of Otto Stenberg (St. Louis Blues), who hit the mark twice.
This is a first participation in the final for Finland since their defeat against Canada in 2022. The last coronation of this nation dates back to 2019, precisely against the United States.
