Tomas Hamara scored the winner with 1:41 left in regulation as Czechia battled back from a 5-2 deficit late in the second period to shock Finland 8-5 and win bronze at the world junior hockey championship Friday. Hamara celebrates scoring during the IIHF World Junior Championship ice hockey match, bronze medal game, between Czechia and Finland at Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden, Friday Jan. 5, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-TT, Bjorn Larsson Rosvall
GOTHENBURG, Sweden – Tomas Hamara scored the winner with 1:41 left in regulation as Czechia battled back from a 5-2 deficit late in the second period to shock Finland 8-5 and win bronze at the world junior hockey championship Friday.
Ondrej Becher added a hat trick and two assists, while Jiri Kulich scored twice and set up two others for the Czechs.
Jakub Stancl added a goal and an assist and Dominik Rymon had one of two Czech empty netters.
Matyas Melovsky had three assists. Hamara, an Ottawa Senators prospect, chipped in with two of his own for a three-point afternoon.
Michael Hrabal started in goal for Czechia but was pulled before the eight-minute mark after giving up two goals on three shots. Jakub Vondras stopped 17 of 20 shots in relief.
The United States and hosts Sweden, looking for its first-ever tournament win on home soil, played for gold later Friday.
Lenni Hameenaho scored twice for Finland. Jani Nyman added a goal and an assist.
Rasmus Kumpulainen and Konsta Helenius provided the rest of the offence for the Finns, who were also held off the podium 12 months ago after taking silver in 2022.
Aleksanteri Kaskimaki and Kasper Kulonummi both added two assists and Niklas Kokko made 23 saves.
Czechia dropped the semifinal to Sweden after upsetting Canada in the quarters. The Czechs lost to the Canadians in the 2023 final. The Finns, meanwhile, dropped the gold-medal matchup to Canada two years ago.
Down 5-4 late in regulation, Becher tied things with 1:56 left on the clock when he fired home a rebound.
Hamara then blasted the winner on a point shot 15 seconds later before Rymon and Becher added empty netters.
Finland, which was looking for its 18th world junior medal all-time, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period.
The Czechs tied it with goals on either side of the intermission, but Helenius made it 3-2 at 8:52 of the second before Hameenaho scored his first of the afternoon just 19 seconds later.
The New Jersey Devils prospect added his second of the game at 14:32 for a 5-2 lead.
Becher got one back for the Czechs with 55 seconds left in the period to cut the deficit to two after 40 minutes and Kulich scored his second at 4:41 of the third to make it 5-4 before that late surge pushed them onto the podium for the fifth time.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 5, 2024.
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