U.S. wins 2nd straight world junior hockey title with OT win over Finland
Czech Republic beats Sweden in marathon shootout to win bronze
Teddy Stiga started his journey as a healthy scratch.
He ended it bathed in glory with a gold medal hanging from his neck.
The 18-year-old forward scored at 8:04 of overtime as the United States battled back from a 3-1 deficit late in the second period to defeat Finland 4-3 and secure the country's second straight world junior hockey championship Sunday.
"Unreal," Stiga said in front of a throng of reporters and cameras. "Being able to win a gold and in that way, nothing better."
The Boston native and second-round pick of the Nashville Predators started the tournament on the outside before finding his place in an ultra-skilled lineup.
"You gotta find a role," Stiga said after burying his one and only shot of the event. "Trying to do what I could do best to help the team win. It wasn't always points and scoring. Being able to top it off with one there was pretty cool."
Cole Hutson, with a goal and an assist, James Hagens and Brandon Svoboda provided the rest of the offence in regulation for the U.S., which secured consecutive men's under-20 titles for the first time in the program's history. Hutson became the first defenceman to lead the world juniors in scoring.
"Pure joy for the guys," said head coach David Carle. "It's all worth it."
Trey Augustine made 20 saves for the Americans, who took gold for a seventh time and will host the 2026 tournament in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. Tournament MVP Ryan Leonard had two assists.
"Dynasty — it's sick," said Leonard, the U.S. captain booed every time he touched the puck by the pro-Finnish crowd at Canadian Tire Centre. "There's no better feeling. We wanted to do something that's never been accomplished. It's crazy."
Jesse Kiiskinen, Tuomas Uronen and Emil Pieniniemi replied for Finland, which last won the event in 2019 in Vancouver. Petteri Rimpinen stopped 36 shots for the Finns, who suffered their only other defeat on Boxing Day against Canada. Emil Hemming had two assists.
"We kept just growing up day-by-day," said captain Aron Kiviharju. "We were really close to getting the most shining medal. Not this time, but I'm really proud of everybody on this team."
The Czech Republic beat Sweden 3-2 in a 14-round shootout to take bronze. Canada finished a disappointing fifth for the second straight year after being ousted by the Czechs in the quarterfinals.
