The United States once again covered itself in gold at the World Junior Hockey Championship.
Teddy Stiga scored his first goal of the tournament at 8:04 of overtime and the Americans erased a two-goal deficit to defeat Finland 4-3 and retain their championship title.
“Unreal,” Stiga told a crowd of reporters and cameras. To be able to win a gold medal, and in that way, there’s nothing better. »
The second round pick of the Nashville Predators started the tournament in the stands before finding his place on an ultra-talented roster.
“You have to find a role,” said Stiga. I tried to do what I could to help the team win. It wasn’t always with points and goals. To be able to top it off with a goal was pretty cool. »
Cole Hutson, with a goal and an assist, James Hagens and Brandon Svoboda also contributed to the offensive efforts of the Americans, who are crowned champions two years in a row for the first time in history.
“Pure joy for the guys,” said head coach David Carle. It’s all worth it. »
Trey Augustine made 20 saves for the United States, which triumphed at the World Juniors for the seventh time. They will host the next edition of the tournament in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Ryan Leonard scored two goals and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Jesse Kiiskinen, Tuomas Uronen and Emil Pieniniemi responded for Finland, whose last gold medal dates back to Vancouver in 2019. Petteri Rimpinen stopped 36 pucks. Emil Hemming was complicit in two goals.
Rimpinen made important saves against Zeev Buium, Leonard and Hagens in the extra period before Augustine did the same in front of Benjamin Rautainen, scorer of the overtime victory in the semi-final against Sweden .
Despite the defeat, this is Finland’s first medal since silver in 2022 in Edmonton.
“We have grown day by day,” said captain Aron Kiviharju. We were very close to getting the brightest medal. Not this time, but I’m really proud of everyone on this team. »
Finland won the first duel between the two teams 4-3 in overtime during the preliminary round, while the United States counted on the return of nine players from the last edition.
The Finns opened the scoring on a power play at 7:37 in the first period when Kiiskinen scored his sixth goal of the tournament.
Expected to be one of the first selections in the next National Hockey League (NHL) draft, Haggens tied the game at 12:04 with his fifth goal. Uronen restored the Finn’s lead just 59 seconds later, then Pieniniemi made it 3-1 at 4:52 of the second period.
The Americans seemed to be in trouble, then took advantage of a favorable jump to close the gap when Svoboda’s point shot deflected off a Finnish player and found its way to the back of the net.
Hutson then brought the two countries back to even footing with a pinpoint pick from the slot with 28.7 seconds left in the second.
