OTTAWA — The United States sits one win from history.
Gabe Perreault and Ryan Leonard had a goal and an assist each as the Americans beat Czechia 4-1 on Saturday to advance to the gold-medal game at the world junior hockey championship.
Cole Eiserman and Oliver Moore, into the empty net, also scored for the U.S., which will meet Finland in Sunday's championship showdown. Finland defeated Nordic rival Sweden 4-3 in overtime in the other semifinal.
Trey Augustine made 26 saves. Aram Minnetian had two assists.
Jakub Stancl replied for the Czechs, who will play the Swedes for bronze at the men's under-20 event on Sunday. Michael Hrabal stopped 21 shots.
The Americans — owners of six world junior crowns, including victories in 2021 and 2024 — have never topped the podium at consecutive tournaments.
Tied 1-1 in Saturday's second period, Eiserman one-timed his third goal of the event at 13:41 at Canadian Tire Centre.
Augustine kept his team in front with under 12 minutes to go in regulation at full stretch to deny Adam Jecho, who scored the goal that eliminated Canada in the quarterfinals, from the lip of his crease.
The U.S. put the game out of reach when Perreault fed Leonard for the American captain's fourth at 15:33 of the third before Moore iced it into the empty net with his first.
Perreault opened the scoring for the Americans, who are set to host next year's event in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., at 3:14 of the first with his third. Stancl made it 1-1 at 9:28 with his tournament-leading sixth.
Benjamin Rautiainen scored on a power play at 9:22 of overtime to secure Finland's victory over Sweden.
The 19-year-old undrafted forward snuck a shot past Swedish goaltender Melker Thelin on a 4-on-3 man advantage with Vancouver Canucks prospect Tom Willander in the box for holding after the Finns killed off a penalty of their own earlier in the extra period.
"Very skilful guy at doing things like that," Finnish head coach Lauri Mikkola said of Rautiainen after his second goal in the nation's capital. "Nobody expected when he shoots."
Emil Hemming, with a goal and an assist, Jesse Kiiskinen and Arttu Alasiurua provided the rest of the offence for the Finns, who haven't won gold since beating the U.S. when they last hosted in 2019. Rimpinen made 43 saves. Konsta Helenius had four assists, while Topias Hynninen had two.
Otto Stenberg, with two goals, and Wilhelm Hallquisth replied for the Swedes. Thelin stopped 31 shots.
"Try to reset as much as you can," Stenberg said. "We don't want to go home with fourth place."
Finland's last podium finish was a silver in 2022 when Canada — bounced by the Czechs in the quarters for the second straight year Thursday — topped the podium in Edmonton.
The Swedes, who have secured just two gold medals in tournament history and lost last year's title game to the U.S. on home soil, opened the scoring 1:22 into the middle period when Stenberg beat Rimpinen on a 2-on-1 for his second.
Finland, which beat the U.S. 4-3 in OT in the preliminary round, tied it when Hemming buried his first at 4:32. The Finns then had a goal called back for offside, but Kiiskinen made it 2-1 at 13:28 with his fifth on a power play.
Stenberg scored his second of the game at 18:07 to knot things up on a man advantage before Alasiurua pushed Finland ahead 3-2 with 20.8 seconds remaining in the period with his third.
The Swedes again tied the game at 11:32 of the final period when Hallquisth squeezed a shot through Rimpinen to set the stage for Rautiainen to send Finland, which hasn't tasted defeat since falling 4-0 to Canada on Boxing Day, into Sunday's final.
"Many times you need the time to grow up together," Mikkola said. "That first game was the big lesson for this team. After that we are doing lots of things right. This is the result."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 4, 2025.
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
