Tuesday is the eighth day of the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is being held at Scandinavium and Frolundaborg in Gothenburg, Sweden. The semifinals are Thursday, and the championship and third-place game are Friday.
Quarterfinal round results
Czechia 3, Canada 2 -- Jakub Stancl (St. Louis Blues) scored twice, including the go-ahead goal with 11 seconds remaining in the third period, to help Czechia advance to the semifinals with a win at Scandinavium.
Stancl's shot from the left side went off the stick of Canada defenseman Oliver Bonk (Philadelphia Flyers) and past goalie Mathis Rousseau (2024 NHL Draft eligible).
"It's unbelievable, an amazing feeling," Stancl said. "I got the puck from Ondrej [Becher] and just tried to take it to the net. It was a lucky bounce, but these things happen sometimes."
Tomas Cibulka (2024 draft eligible) also scored for Czechia, and Dominik Rymon (2024 draft eligible) had two assists. Michael Hrabal (Arizona Coyotes) made 28 saves.
Czechia will play Sweden in the semifinals Thursday (9 a.m. ET; NHLN, TSN).
Czechia had lost 3-2 in overtime against Canada in the gold-medal game at the 2023 WJC. Five players from that game played Tuesday: defensemen Tomas Hamara (Ottawa Senators) and Ales Cech, and forwards Matyas Sapovaliv (Vegas Golden Knights), Jiri Kulich (Buffalo Sabres) and Eduard Sale (Seattle Kraken).
"It's great revenge," Stancl said. "Canada is a really good team, they're good every year and it's just unbelievable."
Matthew Wood (Nashville Predators) and Jake Furlong (San Jose Sharks) scored for Canada. Rousseau made 19 saves.
"It's a couple inches, basically," Canada coach Alan Letang said. "We know how the game is played when you get into those tight games, it's a break here, a bounce there. That inch didn't go our way tonight."
Canada was looking to win its third straight WJC gold medal, something no country has done since Canada won five straight from 2005-09.
"It's tough result," said Canada forward Owen Beck (Montreal Canadiens), the only player back from the 2023 WJC. "Our heads are spinning right now. Not really sure what happened. It's a horrible way to end things off."
Stancl put Czechia ahead 1-0 at 7:51 of the first period with a goal off the rush from the left side.
Czechia had a chance to extend its lead when Rymon was awarded a penalty shot at 11:04, but Rousseau made a glove save.
Cibulka made it 2-0 at 18:01 when his low shot from the point went under Rousseau.
Wood scored on a breakaway for Canada to make it 2-1 at 3:43 of the second period. Brayden Yager (Pittsburgh Penguins) sent a pass out of the Canada zone that Easton Cowan (Toronto Maple Leafs) one-touched ahead to Wood, and his shot off the rush went over Hrabal's blocker.
Furlong tied the game 2-2 at 16:40 when his shot from the blue line got past Hrabal. It was the defenseman's first point of the tournament, and his first goal in a game since Nov. 1, with Halifax of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.
United States 7, Latvia 2 -- Gabe Perreault (New York Rangers) had a goal and two assists, and the United States advanced to the semifinals with a win at Frolundaborg.
Will Smith (San Jose Sharks) and Oliver Moore (Chicago Blackhawks) each had a goal and an assist, Seamus Casey (New Jersey Devils) had three assists and Jacob Fowler (Montreal Canadiens) made 23 saves for the U.S., which has outscored its opposition 36-11 in five tournament games.
The U.S. will play Finland in the semifinals Thursday (1:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN).
"The intensity, attention to detail, all that elevates now," U.S. coach David Carle told NHL Network. "We're trying to send teams home and they're trying to send us home and so that's the challenge. Everything needs to be heightened, all of our senses and our awareness."
Dans Locmelis (Boston Bruins) scored two goals, and Deivs Rolovs (2024 draft eligible) made 34 saves for Latvia, which reached the playoff round despite scoring six goals and having a minus-16 goal differential in four preliminary-round games.
The United States has won all five games against Latvia at World Juniors, including a 5-2 victory in preliminary-round play at the 2023 WJC.
Drew Fortescue (New York Rangers) gave the United States a 1-0 lead at 1:31 of the first period when he stepped into a shot from the top of the left face-off circle.
Perreault made it 2-0 at 11:42 off a shot from the bottom of the left circle.
"I think we had good offensive-zone movement when we got the puck in," Perreault said.
Locmelis, a freshman at the University of Massachusetts, made it 2-1 at 13:50 on a shot from the left circle.
Danny Nelson (New York Islanders) pushed it to 3-1 just 13 seconds later when he redirected a shot by Casey from the right circle at 14:03.
"It all starts with the forwards," Casey said. "Sifting a puck through without a screen isn't going to do anything. So those guys, getting to the net and battling, is where the hard work is being done. They've done a great job recovering those pucks and to just keep doing it over and over again is the way we're able to wear them down."
Rutger McGroarty (Winnipeg Jets) extended the lead to 4-1 at 5:22 of the second period with a power-play goal on a shot at the right post.
Smith converted a 2-on-1 with Perreault on a shot at the right post for a 5-1 lead at 16:00.
Perreault swatted in a knee-high floating puck at the right post to make it 6-1 advantage at 19:39.
The U.S. took a 7-1 lead at 6:34 of the third when Moore scored on a wrist shot from low in the right circle. It was the second straight game Moore played on the top line after starting the tournament as the 13th forward on the roster.
"I think in single-game elimination, talent gets thrown out the window to a degree, and it comes down to your effort and your execution within your game plan," Carle said. "We need to make sure our details are locked in in order to accomplish what we need to do."
Locmelis, Latvia's captain, scored a power-play goal for the 7-2 final at 12:48.
Finland 4, Slovakia 3 (OT) -- Jere Lassila scored 24 seconds into overtime to send Finland into the semifinals with a victory at Frolundaborg.
Lassila (2024 draft eligible) made an outside-inside move around Slovakia defenseman Maxim Strbak (Buffalo Sabres) at the blue line before scoring just inside the left post during the 3-on-3 extra period.
Finland has won three straight after consecutive losses to Canada and Germany to begin the tournament and will play the United States in the semifinals Thursday (1:30 p.m. ET, NHLN, TSN).
Lassila, Finland's captain, had a goal and an assist and Niklas Kokko (Seattle Kraken) made 27 saves.
Filip Mesar (Montreal Canadiens) and Dalibor Dvorsky (St. Louis Blues) each had a goal and an assist, and Adam Gajan (Chicago Blackhawks) made 24 saves for Slovakia. The 19-year-old goalie was a healthy scratch in a 10-2 loss to the United States in its final game of the preliminary round Sunday when coach Ivan Fenes opted to rest him prior to the playoff round.
Slovakia, which had three straight wins to begin the tournament for the first time in its history, lost its last two games.
Mesar tied the game 3-3 with 44 seconds remaining in the third period and Gajan pulled for an extra attacker when his shot from the left face-off circle beat Kokko.
Aleksanteri Kaskimaki (St. Louis Blues) gave Finland a 3-2 lead at 18:26 of the third with a one-timer from the left face-off circle.
Slovakia took a 1-0 lead at 19:59 of the first period when Adam Sykora (New York Rangers) scored on a rebound from the slot after an offensive zone face-off win and shot on net by Mesar from the right circle.
Tommi Mannisto (2024 draft eligible) tied it 1-1 for Finland at 2:36 of the second period when he picked off a pass along the right wing half boards, skated into the high slot and scored on a snap shot.
Lenni Hameenaho (New Jersey Devils) scored on a backhand from slot after opening up Gajan following a turnover to give Finland a 2-1 lead 36 seconds into the third period.
Dvorsky scored off his own rebound from the slot after a pass by Juraj Pekarcik (St. Louis Blues) from behind the net to tie the game 2-2 at 7:09.
Sweden 3, Switzerland 2 (OT) -- Axel Sandin Pellikka (Detroit Red Wings) scored a power-play goal at 5:22 of overtime to help the host country reach the tournament semifinals with a victory at Scandinavium.
Sweden worked the puck at the top of the offensive zone, with Sandin Pellikka skating to the top of the right circle and beating Switzerland goalie Alessio Beglieri (2024 draft eligible) during the 10-minute extra period.
Jonathan Lekkerimaki (Vancouver Canucks) had a goal and an assist and Otto Stenberg (St. Louis Blues) scored for Sweden. Hugo Havelid (2024 draft eligible) made 16 saves.
"It's great to win that game," Sweden captain Liam Ohgren (Minnesota Wild) said. "The quarterfinals is always a challenge. It was a tough game. We need to play a full 60 minutes, and I don't think we did that this game though. Our level went down a little bit in the second period. I think we need to fix that, but it's great to get the win."
Sweden will play Czechia in the semifinals Thursday (9 a.m. ET, NHLN, TSN).
This is the seventh time Sweden has hosted the tournament but its never finished better than second (1993, 2014).
"Sweden has won gold twice at the World Juniors [1981, 2012], but I think it's time to win another," Ohgren said. "It would be so special to win it at home. We've never done that."
Jan Hornecker (2024 draft eligible) and Nick Meile (2024 draft eligible) scored for Switzerland. Beglieri made 30 saves.
Stenberg redirected a shot by Mattias Havelid (San Jose Sharks) to put Sweden ahead 1-0 at 1:34 of the first period.
Lekkerimaki made it 2-0 at 18:00 with a power-play goal, scoring from the top of the left face-off circle through a screen by Anton Wahlberg (Buffalo Sabres).
Hornecker scored for Switzerland to make it 2-1 at 17:26 of the second, one-timing a pass into the slot from Jamiro Reber (2024 draft eligible). The goal was the first allowed by Havelid in three games, ending his shutout streak at 157:26.
Meile tied it 2-2 at 9:10 of the third with a shot from inside the blue line.
Quick links
World Junior Championship predictions
