World Junior Championship roundup: Czechia tops Canada on late goal to reach semifinals | NHL.com

Quarterfinal round results

Czechia 4, Canada 3 — Adam Jecho (Edmonton Oilers) scored a power-play goal at 19:20 of the third period, and Czechia won at Canadian Tire Centre to reach the semifinals for the second straight year.

Czechia was awarded a power play after Canada defenseman Andrew Gibson was called for kneeing at 17:33. Late in the power play, Adam Jiricek (St. Louis Blues) had his shot attempt from the middle of the offensive zone blocked by Ethan Gauthier (Tampa Bay Lightning), but the puck rolled back to him and he passed to Jecho, who scored from the left face-off circle.

Petr Sikora (Washington Capitals), Jakub Stancl (Blues) and Eduard Sale (Seattle Kraken) also scored for Czechia, which defeated Canada 3-2 in the quarterfinals at the 2024 WJC in Sweden. Michal Hrabal (Utah Hockey Club) made 29 saves.

“It’s something special, [winning] against Canada in Canada,” Sale said. “It’s really something special for us. It was a tough game and Canada is a great team. First period it was better and in the second period they were playing on the puck and it was tough to defend. Our goalie played a great game tonight, and the last penalty [on Canada] was the key in the game.”

Czechia will play the United States in the semifinals on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN).

Tanner Howe (Pittsburgh Penguins), Porter Martone (2025 NHL Draft eligible) and Bradly Nadeau (Carolina Hurricanes) scored for Canada. Carter George (Los Angeles Kings) made 22 saves.

Canada finished the tournament with two goals at 5-on-5 in its final four games.

“We weren’t scoring, and scoring generates your emotion,” Canada coach Dave Cameron said. “… We were creating chances. Could you create more? Of course you could. If you look at the analytics, 5-on-5, we created enough chances to win the games, they just didn’t go in. That’s the nature of the game tonight.”

Sikora made it 1-0 at 43 seconds of the first period when he finished a give-and-go with Vojtech Hradec (Utah), tipping a return pass from Hradec under George’s pads. It was the first 5-on-5 goal allowed by Canada in five games.

Howe tied it 1-1 with a short-handed goal at 10:17. Brayden Yager (Winnipeg Jets) was stopped on a breakaway but backhanded the rebound to Howe, who directed it past Hrabal.

Stancl put Czechia ahead 2-1 with a power-play goal at 12:45. His shot went off the glass behind the net but bounced in front and went in off the glove of Canada defenseman Sam Dickinson (San Jose Sharks).

Sale made it 3-1 at 19:57 when he scored on the rush off a pass from Matej Mastalirsky (2025 draft eligible).

Martone made it 3-2 at 17:40 of the second period when he got to the front of the net and redirected a shot by Tanner Molendyk (Nashville Predators).

Nadeau tied it 3-3 at 15:42 of the third period, scoring from in close off the rebound of a shot by Luca Pinelli (Columbus Blue Jackets).

“We had a good last five minutes of the second and kind of brought it in the third,” Canada defenseman Oliver Bonk (Philadelphia Flyers) said. “Tied it up, but then unfortunate, obviously that call. … It’s just tough getting the call like that, and then them scoring on the power play with 30-whatever seconds left. It’s just tough when you had all the momentum.”

Sale, Czechia’s captain, said he made sure the team stayed positive after losing the lead.

“After their third goal the team was a little bit down, but i just said, ‘Let’s keep going, we will have a chance again,'” Sale said. “And after that we got the power play and scored, so it was a great game.”

Canada forward Cole Beaudoin (Utah Hockey Club) was assessed a five-minute major for kneeing and a game misconduct at 9:03 of the first period.