Finland 4, United States 3 (OT): Arttu Valila (2026 NHL Draft eligible) scored 2:11 into overtime, and Finland advanced with a 4-3 overtime win against the United States in the quarterfinal round at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul.
Leo Tuuva (2026 eligible) and Joona Saarelainen (Tampa Bay Lightning) each had a goal and an assist, and Petteri Rimpinen (Los Angeles Kings) made 28 saves for Finland, which lost 4-3 in overtime to the United States in the gold medal game of the 2025 WJC at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario.
“We have a huge respect for each other. They have so many tough guys out there who are so skillful,” Rimpinen said. “And as I said, this time around, it went our way, so it’s even. I feel for them … home ice and stuff. So they played a really good game and it’s about bounces. If we look at the final last year, it’s about small bounces, and we got that one tonight, so really happy for that.”
Cole Hutson (Washington Capitals) had a goal and an assist, and Nick Kempf (Capitals) made 21 saves for the United States.
Ryker Lee (Nashville Predators) scored from the slot to pull the U.S. into a 3-3 tie at 18:27 of the third period with Kempf pulled for an extra attacker.
Hutson, chosen in the second round (No. 43) by the Capitals in the 2024 NHL Draft, missed the past two games with an undisclosed injury after getting hit by the puck in the back of the neck and stretchered off the ice on Dec. 27. He’s the brother of Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson.
“I don’t want to really comment too much on what [the injury] was but it wasn’t good, I can tell you that,” Hutson said. “I rushed myself back but didn’t do enough to help the team win. I don’t have a gold medal around my neck.
“I could have scored a goal in overtime. Could have done plenty of things better.”
The United States had won two straight gold medals at World Juniors.
“That we let our country down,” U.S. forward Cole Eiserman (New York Islanders) said when asked what his emotions were afterward. “We’re on home soil, and they did a great job coming to our games, and we didn’t do it for them, and that’s hardest part.”
Hutson gave the United States a 1-0 lead 35 seconds into the second period on a shot from the top of the left face-off circle.
Heikki Ruohonen (Philadelphia Flyers) tied it 1-1 at 4:46 of the second period on a wrist shot through traffic from low in the left circle off a backhand pass by Max Westergard (Flyers) from the slot.
Eiserman gave the U.S. a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal on a one-timer from the right circle at 10:15 of the second period. Hutson set up his Boston University teammate with a saucer pass from the left circle.
Tuuva made it 2-2 on a shot from outside the right post at 12:43 of the third period, and then assisted on a goal by Saarelainen, who took a pass in the slot and scored on a one-timer at 13:38, for a 3-2 advantage.
“We were this close from playing a perfect game, but that’s sports. It rips your bloody heart out when you’re in a situation like that,” U.S. coach Bob Motzko said. “Give credit to Finland. One thing about Finns, they never change. Down or up, they play the same way, and they got their sticks on a puck and the game changed.”
Hutson has 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) in 10 career games at World Juniors and became the career leader in points by a U.S. defenseman at the tournament, passing Erik Johnson (14 points; 2006-07). He’s also the career leader in assists by a U.S. defenseman at World Juniors, passing Ryan Suter (10 assists; 2003-05).
The United States is 16-4-2-18 with one tie against Finland at World Juniors.
Finland will play Sweden in the semifinals at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul on Sunday (4:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN).
Canada 7, Slovakia 1: Canada scored five goals in the first period to defeat Slovakia at 3M Arena at Mariucci on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, advancing to the WJC semifinals for the first time since 2023.
“It’s the start we needed,” said Canada forwardCole Beaudoin (Utah Mammoth), who had a goal and an assist. “I think that was our kind of our game plan, get off to a good start and go from there. And we did exactly that. The guys got the pedal to the ground, and we played our game.”
Porter Martone (Philadelphia Flyers), Sam O’Reilly (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Michael Misa (San Jose Sharks) each had a goal and an assist, and Cole Reschny (Calgary Flames), Tij Iginla (Mammoth) and Brady Martin (Nashville Predators) also scored. Jack Ivankovic (Nashville Predators) made 21 saves.
Canada will play Czechia in the semifinals at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul on Sunday (8:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN). It is the third straight WJC when the teams will have met after the round-robin stage. Czechia won in the quarterfinals in 2024 (3-2) and 2025 (4-3).
“I think ever since that day (the loss to Czechia in 2025 quarterfinals), I look back and I get another chance to play at the World Juniors. It’s gold medal or nothing,” Martone said. “I’m really excited. That group is really excited, and we’ve got our hands full. We’re going to have a tough opponent in Czechia but we’re ready for the challenge.”
Jan Chovan (Los Angeles Kings) scored for Slovakia. Alan Lendak (2026 eligible) made 27 saves in relief of Michal Pradel (Detroit Red Wings), who was removed after allowing three goals on 12 shots during the first period.
“We just kept on rolling,” Martone said. “I think a big thing for us before the game was after we get one, we keep on rolling and kind of try to put the game out of reach, don’t let them hang around. And we did exactly that. We stuck to our game plan, and that’s why we got the win.”
Reschny made it 1-0 at 13:58 when he scored on the rebound of a shot by Keaton Verhoeff (2026 eligible).
“After (the) first goal, we started just looking and just thinking, ‘Oh no, now we’re losing, and now we lost the game.’ We need to focus on our shift, and we didn’t do that in that game,” Chovan said.
Iginla skated down the left side and made it 2-0 at 14:42, and Misa cut through the high slot and scored to push it to 3-0 at 16:11.
Lendak replaced Pradel but allowed a goal on the second shot he faced when O’Reilly knocked in a loose puck in the crease to make it 4-0 at 17:03.
Canada went ahead 5-0 at 19:47 when Martin tapped in a backdoor pass from Gavin McKenna (2026 eligible) for a power-play goal.
“They came out very well. They were skating well, and we jumped on them early. It’s one of the things you like in a first period, that you can set the tone for the rest of the game,” Canada coach Dale Hunter said. “We scored some goals, we had some looks early. The goalie was good, but we kept pushing and we got some goals, and it was a really good first.”
Martone scored off the rush at 9:31 of the second period to make it 6-0, and Beaudoin’s goal off the rebound of an O’Reilly shot extended it to 7-0 at 10:41
Chovan scored from the left face-off circle to make it 7-1 at 16:50.
Czechia 6, Switzerland 2: Adam Jiricek (St. Louis Blues) scored for the fourth straight game, and Czechia advanced to the semifinals with a win at 3M Arena at Mariucci.
Jiri Klima (2026 eligible) and Petr Sikora (Washington Capitals) each had a goal and two assists, Jakub Fibigr (Seattle Kraken) had a goal and an assist, and Tomas Galvas (2026 eligible) and Samuel Drancak (2026 eligible) each scored for Czechia. Michal Orsulak made 18 saves.
Leon Muggli (Washington Capitals) and Jamiro Reber (2026 eligible) scored for Switzerland. Christian Kirsch (San Jose Sharks) made 37 saves.
Muggli gave Switzerland a 1-0 lead at 3:47 of the first period when his shot from the right point got through traffic and past Orsulak.
Galvas tied the game 1-1 at 54 seconds of the second period. The defenseman stole the puck from Switzerland forward Paul Mottard (2026 eligible), cut through the middle of the offensive zone and dragged the puck around Kimi Korbler (2026 eligible) before beating Kirsch past his glove.
“Yeah, they had a good play with the rim back. We tried to deny them, but they did a good job too,” Muggli said. “I felt like we should be proud of our [defensive] zone. Should be proud of our tournament in general, but sad in the end.”
Reber put Switzerland ahead 2-1 with a backdoor tap-in for a power-play goal at 6:43.
Czechia went ahead with three goals in a span of 5:04, starting with Drancak when he cut through the slot and scored at 10:28 to tie the game 2-2.
“We knew their defense was very tight. … So we needed to spread them in the [defensive] zone. They blocked a lot of our shots,” Czechia coach Patrik Augusta said. “We talked to the [defensemen], and instead of giving them the blocked shots, (the plan was to) not to put the puck down (behind the net). And on the third goal it happened: Our ‘D’ just put the puck behind the net, forwards won it and we scored from that. We just wanted to make them feel a little uncomfortable, don’t stick to their plan, be close together and spread them around in the zone.”
Jiricek gave Czechia its first lead of the game when he scored from a sharp angle to make it 3-2 at 11:12, after teammate Adam Benak (Minnesota Wild) lost the puck as he skated through the slot.
“Yeah, you can see the strong depth in this team. Because we were losing two times in the game, 1-0 and 2-1, and we still were doing what we are supposed to do, and turned the score to our side,” Jiricek said. “That’s about how strong this team is in the depth.”
Sikora scored on the rebound of a shot by Vojtech Cihar (Los Angeles Kings) to make it 4-2 at 15:32.
Klima made it 5-2 at 10:25 of the third period on a one-timer from the slot set up by Matej Kubiesa (2026 eligible).
Fibigr scored a power-play goal at 17:37 for the 6-2 final.
“I think the Czechs really built the momentum on playing faster. They chip the puck out, and they used the rims,” Switzerland coach Jan Cadieux said. “They played a little bit like [how] Canada played against Finland the other night, where they chipped a lot of pucks out and they got us on the forecheck. We just saw, I think, at the end of the first period, we had a couple times bad puck management. The last three minutes of the first period, we already lost the momentum a little bit. We have one big scoring chance at the beginning of second period, we don’t score, and then they come on down, they score. And you saw the momentum changing. It’s small details, and I think they took over physically in the second period.”
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