CZECHIA TAKES BRONZE IN EPIC SHOOTOUT IIHF 2025 World Junior Championship

Eduard Sale scored the winner in the longest shootout in tournament history as Czechia edged Sweden 3-2 to capture the bronze medal at the 2025 World Juniors.

On the 28th shootout attempt in total, the Czech captain coolly faked as he cut to the backhand before going high past Swedish goalie Marcus Gidlof's glove side. Sale, a top Seattle Kraken prospect, slid on his knees as his teammates flooded off the bench to congratulate him.

For a change of pace, the sun was shining outside the Canadian Tire Centre at puck drop, and the Czechs found themselves in a sunnier mood after winning their last game in Ottawa.

In regulation time, Sale and Jakub Stancl, with his tournament-leading seventh goal, scored for Czechia.

For Sweden, David Edstrom tallied twice for Sweden, while Felix Unger Sorum added two assists.

Swedish head coach Magnus Havelid switched from starter Melker Thelin to Gidlof, who played in the 8-1 win over Kazakhstan, for this third-place game. Czech coach Patrik Augusta stuck with his number one man Michael Hrabal. Final shots favoured Sweden 34-33.

The Swedes were the only team with a perfect record before losing 4-3 in overtime to Finland in Saturday’s early semi-final. The Czechs were yearning to bounce back after falling 4-1 to the defending champion Americans in the other semi-final. Motivation was plentiful all around.

With Sunday’s win, Czechia medals for the third consecutive year, having earned silver in 2023 and bronze in 2024. In total, the Czechs now own three bronze medals in their modern era – or nine, if one includes medals won by the former Czechoslovakia.

The teams traded power play goals in a first period that picked up steam as it went along. Stancl drew first blood when he hammered home a one-timer at 3:47 on Czechia's first man advantage.

The Swedes answered back at 12:37. Edstrom's tip in front was stopped by Hrabal, but the top-line Swedish centre corralled the puck and put it in over Hrabal's left pad.

Just before the midway mark, Sale put the Czechs ahead 2-1, capitalizing on a turnover. In the Swedish zone, Miroslav Holinka picked off Linus Eriksson's errant pass up the middle and sent the puck to Sale behind the blue-and-yellow defenders. Sale made no mistake with a nice backhand move for his sixth goal in Ottawa.

Off the rush, Victor Eklund nearly tied it up for Sweden with under six minutes left in the middle frame, but his shot rattled off the iron. Instead, it was Edstrom coming through again with his fourth goal of the tournament. Hustling to the net, he tipped in Unger Sorum's pass with an outstretched stick at 15:40.

In the third period, the Czechs built an 11-8 edge in shots on goal, but Swedish pressure ramped up as the clock ticked down. The 10-minute overtime saw chances aplenty as the rivals went back and forth, but solved nothing.

When these two teams clashed on New Year’s Eve, Sweden earned top spot in Group B with a 4-2 win, propelled by Herman Traff’s two goals. Stylistically, this was a far cry from last year's wild bronze battle, where the Czechs scored six unanswered goals to beat Finland 8-5.

Sweden has dominated Czechia of late, posting 16 wins in 17 encounters prior to this bronze medal game. However, the 2023 Czech semi-final win in Halifax loomed large, as David Jiricek and Jiri Kulich scored last-minute goals in regulation and overtime respectively to advance with a 2-1 victory.

This was just the second bronze medal game ever between the Swedes and Czechs. In 2022, Sweden downed Czechia 3-1 on Isak Rosen’s second-period winner and goalie Jesper Wallstedt’s 27 saves.