Sabres at World Juniors | Kleber, Ziemer win gold with Team USA

Buffalo Sabres prospects Adam Kleber and Brodie Ziemer helped the United States capture the gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship with a 4-3 overtime victory over Finland on Sunday.

Kleber and Ziemer were two of six Sabres prospects who competed in the tournament along with forwards Anton Wahlberg (Sweden) and Konsta Helenius (Finland) and defensemen Maxim Strbak (Slovakia) and Norwin Panocha (Germany).

Helenius, the Sabres’ first-round pick this past summer, was named a top three player for Finland’s silver medal-winning team and tied for fourth in the tournament with six assists.

Ziemer, a third-round pick by the Sabres in 2024, earned the secondary assist on the game-winning goal for the United States. It was his seventh point of the tournament (3+4), tied for fifth on Team USA.

The tournament marked the continuation of what has been a strong season for Ziemer, who is tied for sixth among NCAA freshmen with eight goals scored for the University of Minnesota.

“He's a versatile player,” Sabres director of player development Adam Mair said of Ziemer prior to the tournament. “His work ethic is off the charts. He can really shoot the puck, his 200-foot details are excellent, he stops on plays, he finishes checks, he defends hard and with smarts. He's an exciting player for organization and someone for me that I think the scouting staff did a really good job identifying in the draft last year.”

Kleber, a second-round pick in 2024 and a freshman at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, finished the tournament with an assist and a plus-five rating in six games played.

The United States overcame a 3-1 deficit to earn the win on Sunday. Teddy Stiga, a second-round pick by Nashville, scored the golden goal 8:03 into overtime:

With the win, Team USA has captured consecutive gold medals at World Juniors for the first time.

Find results from throughout the tournament below.

Thursday, December 26

Sweden 5 - Slovakia 2

Strbak recorded two assists and two shots and led all Slovakian skaters with 23:36 ice time.

Wahlberg recorded one shot in 15:31 for Sweden.

USA 10 - Germany 4

Ziemer scored two goals on five shots in 15:20 of ice time for the United States, while Kleber didn't dress.

For Germany, Panocha played 21:17 – second most on the team – and recorded one shot on goal.

Canada 4 - Finland 0

Helenius recorded two shots and led Finnish forwards with 17:55 of ice time.

Friday, December 27

Slovakia 2 - Switzerland 1

Strbak skated 25:10 to lead Slovakia for the second straight game, including a lengthy shift to end the contest as Switzerland pulled its goalie in an attempt to erase the one-goal deficit. He had two shots and a plus-1 rating.

Finland 3 - Germany 1

Helenius assisted on Finland's first goal late in the opening period. He finished with the highest ice time among Finnish forwards at 18:17 and a plus-2 rating.

Panocha skated 22:14 for Germany.

Sweden 8 - Kazakhstan 1

Wahlberg had two goals and two assists for a game-high four points as Sweden improved to 2-0.

Latvia 3 - Canada 2 (SO)

Saturday, December 28

Czechia 14 - Kazakhstan 2

United States 5 - Latvia 1

Ziemer led U.S. forwards in ice time (16:18) and tallied an assist on Danny Nelson's power-play goal for his third point in two games. Kleber made his tournament debut on defense and skated 8:29.

Sunday, December 29

Sweden 7 – Switzerland 5

Wahlberg skated 19:04 as Sweden remained undefeated through three games, clinching a spot in the quarterfinals.

Finland 4 – USA 3 (OT)

Ziemer skated 13:23 and scored a third-period, game-tying goal for the Americans, his third of the tournament.

Kleber finished with a +2 rating in 19:34 of ice time.

For Finland, Helenius tallied three shots on goal and his second helper of the tournament, assisting on Jesse Kiiskinen's second-period goal.

Czechia 4 – Slovakia 2

Strbak recorded a team-leading five shots on goal in 20:45. And with a third assist, he now leads Slovakia at this year's Juniors.

Canada 4 – Germany 0

Panocha tallied two shots in 20:44 of ice time, which ranked second among German skaters.

Monday, December 30

Slovakia 5 - Kazakhstan 4

Tied at four in overtime, Strbak put himself in open space to receive a pass for a breakaway opportunity, which he slotted between Vladimir Nikitin’s pads to win the game for Slovakia.

Strbak’s goal was his first of the tournament. Additionally, he recorded an assist for the second consecutive game while leading Slovakia in time on ice (24:52) and ranking third on the team with four shots.

At game's end, Strbak was tied for second in the tournament with four assists in four games.

Slovakia’s win clinched its spot in the quarterfinals and third place in Group B.

Latvia 4 - Germany 3

Panocha had a primary assist, his first point of the tournament, on Germany’s third goal of the game to send it to overtime. He finished with a shot on goal and 20:58 of ice time, the fourth most among German skaters.

Tuesday, December 31

Switzerland 3 - Kazakhstan 1

Finland 3 - Latvia 0

Helenius deked past a defender in the low slot and dished a pass to Benjamin Rautiainen for his third assist of the tournament and Finland’s first goal of the game.

He added four shots on goal in 18:27 of ice time to cap off a 2-1-0-1 record for Finland in the group stage. Depending on the outcome of the USA-Canada game at 8:00 p.m., Finland will either finish second or third in Group A.

Sweden 4 - Czechia 2

Wahlberg extended Sweden's lead to 4-1 with a second-period goal, as he received a net-front pass and kicked the puck to his stick to beat goalie Michael Hrabel.

The 19-year-old, who skated 18:06 and tallied three shots, also earned the primary assist on Sweden's second goal.

His six points (3+3) helped Sweden go 4-0-0-0 to win Group B at this year's tournament.

USA 4 - Canada 1

Ziemer tallied one shot on goal in 15:34 of ice time, while Kleber skated 9:29.

The two Sabres prospects will continue their Juniors journey after the Americans (3-0-1-0) clinched first place in Group A. Ziemer's three goals tied for the team lead during the group stage.

Thursday, January 2

Relegation Game: Germany 4 - Kazakhstan 3

Panocha led Germany in time on ice with 22:14, taking 27 shifts during the game. He added a shot on goal in the win as Germany avoided relegation to remain in next year’s edition of the tournament.

Sweden 3 – Latvia 2

Wahlberg scored his fourth goal of the tournament, tied for the second-most by any player, from the edge of the right faceoff circle, one-timing a pass from Axel Sandin-Pellikka following a Sweden faceoff win.

Wahlberg had five shots, the fourth-most of any Swedish player, in 18:55 time on ice in the win, sending the Swedes to their fourth straight semifinal appearance.

Quarterfinals: United States 2 – Switzerland 0

Ziemer recorded his second and third assists of the tournament to give him six points through five games. He had two secondary assists in the first period to help the United States jump out to a 4-1 lead on goals from James Hagens and Danny Nelson.

Kleber recorded his first assist of the tournament in the second period, saucering a pass into the offensive zone to Hagens who wound up scoring on a give-and-go with Gabe Perrault.

• Ziemer and Kleber finished the game with plus-2 ratings, both skating just less than 16 minutes in the win to send the United States to its fourth semifinal appearance in five years.

Quarterfinals: Finland 5 – Slovakia 3

Helenius recorded three shots in the win, skating 16:42 in 19 shifts.

Strbak had an assist on Slovakia’s opening goal of the game and ranked third on the team in ice time with 23:13. He finished his fourth and final World Juniors with five assists, tied for second-most among all skaters at game's end.

Quarterfinals: Czechia 4 - Canada 3

Saturday, January 4 (Semifinals)

Finland 4 – Sweden 3 (OT)

Helenius assisted on all four of Finland's goals for his first multi-point game of the tournament, including three in the second period, to send the country to the finals for the first time since 2022.

Helenius leads the tournament with seven assists in six games. He was selected as one of Finland's top three players of the tournament following the game.

Helenius’ first assist came when he centered a pass to Emil Hemming to tie the game at one at the 15:28 mark of the second period.

Helenius earned secondary assists on Finland's next two goals. In overtime, he passed to Benjamin Rautiainen, who scored the game-winning goal from a sharp angle.

Wahlberg finished the game with four shots in 23:17 of ice time and will play one more game in the tournament on Sunday in the Bronze Medal Game against the loser of United States vs. Czechia.

Semifinal 2: United States 4 – Czechia 1

Kleber skated 11:42 while Ziemer tallied one shot in 14:51. With the win, the United States will appear in its second consecutive finals and try to win back-to-back World Juniors for the first time.

Sunday, January 5

Bronze Medal Game: Czechia 3 – Sweden 2 (SO)

Wahlberg notched his fourth assist of the tournament with 4:21 left in the second period, passing it to Felix Unger Sorum whose shot was deflected by David Edstrom for a goal, tying the game at 2-2.

He added six shots and a +1 rating in 23:21 time on ice in the loss that ended in a 14-round shootout. Wahlberg finished the tournament with eight points (4+4).

Gold Medal Game: United States 4 - Finland 3 (OT)

Finland opened the scoring in the finals 7:13 into the game with a power-play goal. Emil Hemming found Jesse Kiiskinen in the high slot, who buried the shot to give the Fins an early 1-0 lead.

The U.S. responded nearly five minutes later when James Hagens pounced on a rebound from a Ryan Leonard shot and put it past Petteri Rimpinen to tie the game. Fifty-nine seconds later, Finland's Tuomas Uronen fired a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle past Trey Augustine to retake the lead.

The Fins created a two-goal lead less than five minutes into the second period after Emil Pieniniemi skated in and wristed the puck from above the right faceoff dot into the back of the net.

The United States fired back near the end of the second period when Brandon Svoboda’s shot deflected off a Finland defender past Rimpinen. Then, with 30 seconds remaining in the period, Ryan Leonard laid off a pass to Cole Hutson, who scored from the bumper spot to tie the game going into the third.

After a scoreless third period, the United States scored the golden goal eight minutes and three seconds into overtime. Zeev Buium passed it diagonally across the neutral zone to Teddy Stiga, giving Stiga a breakaway.

Kleber finished the game with a plus-one rating in 9:58 of ice time and finished the tournament with an assist and a plus-five rating in six games played. With Ziemer’s assist in overtime, he finished the tournament with seven points (3+4) and a plus-four rating.

Helenius skated 21:06 in the game.