Canada’s World Juniors run took a hard hit on Sunday, as the team was undone by late penalties in a 6-4 semifinal loss to Czechia that swung back and forth before unravelling in the final minutes.
Canada erased deficits three times but could never take control. When the game tightened late, discipline finally broke, sending the Czechs to the gold-medal game and dropping Canada into the bronze-medal final.
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Canada opened the scoring on the power play midway through the first period when Utah prospect Tij Iginla scored at 15:14, but it masked a slow start. Czechia controlled play at five-on-five, winning races and pressing Canada into the defensive zone.
That continued pressure paid off late in the period, when Colorado Avalanche prospect Maxmilian Curran tied the game at 16:56. Canada went to the intermission even on the scoreboard, but was fortunate to be there after being outplayed for much of the opening 20 minutes.
Czechia continued to press in the second, regaining the lead at 23:44 when Adam Titlbach scored at even strength, once again exposing Canada’s struggles in five-on-five play.
After drawing back-to-back penalties, Canada continued to dominate on the power play, capitalizing on a two-man advantage when Calgary Flames prospect Zayne Parekh tied the game at 32:38.
But that momentum was short lived. With under a minute left in the period, Minnoasta Wilds prospect Adam Benák scored to restore Czechia’s lead at 39:17.
Canada pushed again in the third. Macklin, Saskatchewan’s Cole Reschny tied the game 3-3 at 43:59, but Czechia answered once more when Vojtěch Cihar made it 4-3 at 49:49.
Canada had one final response when team captain Porter Martone tied the game at 57:19, setting up what looked like a dramatic finish. But instead, the game fell apart for the Canadians.
In the final 90 seconds, Team Canada took a series of costly penalties for delaying the game, goaltender interference, and a double minor plus a misconduct to top prospect Gavin McKenna for abuse of officials.
New York Islanders prospect Tomáš Poletín scored the go-ahead goal at 58:46, and Cihar sealed it with an empty-net power-play goal at 59:34.
Canada’s power play produced three goals, but when it came to five-on-five and when composure mattered most, Czechia was steadier.
Czechia will face Sweden in the gold-medal game Monday night. Canada will play Finland at 3:30 p.m. on Monday in the bronze-medal match.