Canada 3, Finland 2 (OT) — Kent Johnson (Columbus Blue Jackets) knocked in his own rebound at 3:20 of overtime to give Canada its 19th tournament championship and first since 2020. “[Logan Stankoven] I made a nice play with the puck and I made a nice pass to my backhand and I tried to five-hole, but there was a lot more room than that, and then I hit the rebound,” Johnson said. “In 3-on-3 overtime, there’s so much space out there and you don’t throw it as much, it’s just skill and IQ, so that’s good.” The goal came at just 1:06 after Canadian forward Mason McTavish (Anaheim Ducks) deflected a shot along the Canadian goal line to keep the game tied. “I do not know [how I did it], to be honest,” McTavish said. “I just saw it dripping and thought, ‘I’ve got to do something here.’ Seriously, I don’t even know what happened. I just got lucky. That’s such a good feeling… you can never get enough of that. That’s why you play hockey, for games like these, opportunities like these. Finland played so hard, so much pride, so much courage to come back. For us to come out on top on Johnson’s goal, it’s unbelievable at the moment. I’m so proud of this team.” Canada goalie Dylan Garand said, “I pushed out, it kind of went through and the puck goes up and over me, and I looked back and ‘Mac’ just cleared it off the line. Oh my God, what a feeling. Then we go down and you score… there’s no better feeling right now.” Joshua Roy (Montreal Canadiens) and William Dufour (New York Islanders) each scored and McTavish had two assists for Canada, which was ranked 34th in the top three. McTavish, the captain, was named Canada’s player of the match. Garand made 29 saves for Canada, which has won seven straight tournament games, outscoring its opponents 41-14. Aleksi Heimosalmi (Carolina Hurricanes) and Joakim Kemell (Nashville Predators) each scored and Juha Jatkola (2023 NHL Draft eligible) made 29 saves for Finland, which was ranked 17th in the top three and first in 2020 (third place). Canada, which was 0-for-7 with 12 shots on the power play, won 6-3 when the teams played in the final game of the qualifying round on Aug. 15. Roy gave Canada a 1-0 lead at 11:18 of the first period, scoring on a backhand from the slot after McTavish’s initial shot hit the right post. Dufour scored on a sharp shot from the top of the right circle for a 2-0 lead 48 seconds into the second period. Defenseman Olen Zellweger (Ducks) had the primary assist to finish with nine assists in the tournament. Heimosalmi pulled Finland within 2-1 on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle off a Samuel Helenius (Los Angeles Kings) screen at 4:09 of the third period. Kemmel tied the game at 2-2 after controlling a pass from Topi Niemela (Toronto Maple Leafs) and scoring on a low shot from the left circle at 10:46. “It was a nice pass from Topi and I had an empty net so I just shoot it,” Kemel said. “We played really well and it’s disappointing to lose. I’m very proud of our team.” Canada is 26-9 with six ties against Finland at the WJC. The teams played each other in the WJC final for the first time on Saturday. “We just gave it our all, put it all on the ice and let’s see what happens, and that’s what we did,” Niemela said. “It’s hard to win in Canada, against Canada.” Comfort game Sweden 3, Czech Republic 1 — Jesper Wallstedt (Minnesota Wild) made 27 saves to help Sweden win the consolation game and finish third in the tournament. “We didn’t really want to leave this place without a medal, and we came out here today with full confidence and we wanted that medal a little bit more than the Czech,” he said. Wallstedt, who allowed eight goals in five games in the tournament, made 11 saves in the first period, nine in the second and seven in the third. “Making saves look easy is the way I want to play, that’s my style of play,” Wallstedt said. “I want to make it look as easy as possible. That’s my game plan and I want to make as many little moves as possible and when I have to step out of my comfort zone and make those game-winning saves, I want to do I felt good, I felt like the elves were coming towards me and hitting me and that’s always a good sign.’ Fabian Lysell (Boston Bruins), Isak Rosen (Buffalo Sabres) and Linus Sjodin (Sabres) scored for Sweden, which finished in the top three for the 20th time and first since finishing third in 2020. Michal Gut scored and Tomas Suchanek (2023 draft eligible) made 20 saves for the Czech Republic. Lysell gave Sweden a 1-0 lead 14:22 into the first period. He skated past Czech defenseman Jiri Tichacek (2023 draft eligible) and went down the right wing before scoring on a layup. Gut tied the game at 1-1 at 13:30 of the second period when Jan Mysak’s (Montreal Canadiens) point shot went off his left foot on the power play. Rosen scored 1:49 later on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle, following a Theodor Niederbach (Detroit Red Wings) faceoff to give Sweden a 2-1 lead at 15:19. Sjodin made it 3-1 at 16:34 of the third period on a shot from the right circle that beat Suchanek on the far side. “I think we gave it our all in that game, but we just weren’t lucky enough to win it at the end,” Suchanek said. “They played very well. It was a very difficult game and I should have saved the second goal… it decided the game. We came so close but didn’t do it.” The Czech Republic had two power play opportunities in the third period when it was a one-goal game, but Wallstedt denied two shot attempts. The Czech Republic finished 1-for-3 on the power play. “I think he was the best goalkeeper in the tournament,” Sweden coach Tomas Monten said of Wallstedt. “He has tremendous experience, but he’s a tremendous person and leader, and if you could put a ‘C’ on the goalie, he would definitely have it. He’s calm and makes plays around the net. But the feeling on the bench is that because he’s so calm , settles and everyone just says “OK”. “Jesper is a terrific goaltender and that’s something the Minnesota Wild need to work on.” The game was Monten’s last at the World Juniors. The Swedish coach has led his country to three top-three finishes (second in 2018) in six years. “It was a tough loss yesterday (to Finland in the semifinals),” captain Emil Andrae (Philadelphia Flyers) said. “We had to regroup, come together as a team and we talked about it and we have a responsibility to our country and, of course, Thomas Modin as well. It was his last game and we got together and said we’re going to do it. it’s for him, so I’m happy for him.” LNH.com staff writer Guillaume Lepage and NHL.com freelance correspondent Derek Van Diest contributed to this report — Listen: New episode of NHL Draft Class
