Team Canada leads the Czech Republic 1-0 in the first 20 minutes of the World Junior Championship final as they look to repeat as gold medalists.
David Jiriček of the Czech Republic brought down Brennan Othman deep in his own zone, sending Canada on the power play, where they have been strong throughout the tournament. That trend continued when Arizona Coyotes prospect Dylan Guenther sent a laser beam from the left circle to open the scoring.
The goal was Gunther’s fourth of the tournament and came off assists from Othman and Brand Clark.
It’s the first time the two teams have met for World Junior gold in the tournament’s current format, while Canada is 6-0 against the Czech Republic in the medal round all-time. Canada is aiming to become the first repeat winner in 11 years, while the Czech Republic is aiming for its first gold since 2001.
The two met on Boxing Day, with the Czech Republic claiming a surprise 5-2 victory. It was the first time Canada had lost its opening match of the tournament as a host.
Canada advanced to the final with a 6-2 win over Team USA on Wednesday night, where Joshua Roy scored four points and Tomas Milic stopped 43 of 45 shots. Milich was named player of the match and called the reaction he received from the fans “the coolest moment of my hockey career”.
Canada got a big scare a round earlier when Slovakia took them to overtime, but Connor Bedard saved his team’s replay hopes with a stunning backhand winner.
The presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft has the all-time most goals (17) and points (36) by a Canadian at the event and also holds the record for points (23) in a single tournament by a Canadian player. Bedard is also one goal shy of the Canadian single-tournament record held by John Anderson and Dale McCourt with 10.
The Czech Republic secured a place in the gold medal game with a thrilling 2-1 win over Sweden in the semifinals on Wednesday. The Swedes led 1-0 late in the third period, but David Jiriček tied things up with 39 seconds left, and then Jiri Kulic scored late in the extra frame to complete the turnaround.
Earlier Thursday, the United States defeated Sweden 8-7 in overtime in the bronze medal match. Luke Hughes completed his hat trick with the overtime winner to give the Americans their fourth medal in the last six tournaments.
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