Finland avenged last year's gold medal game loss by eliminating Team USA in overtime of the quarterfinal on American soil.
There will be a new champion crowned at the world juniors.
Team USA, which won the past two tournaments, lost 4-3 in overtime to Finland in the quarterfinal on Friday.
In what was a rematch of last year's championship final, Arttu Valila scored at 2:11 of the extra frame as Finland upset the home team and advanced to the semifinal.
"I said we wanted that revenge from last year," said Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju, who picked up an assist in the win. "We kind of earned it tonight."
Like last year's final, which the U.S. won 4-3 in overtime, this was another wild, back-and-forth game that could have gone either way. Following a scoreless first period, the U.S. took a 1-0 lead on a goal from Cole Hutson. Both teams then traded goals, as the Americans entered the third period ahead 2-1 and hoping to advance to the semifinal.
But thanks to goalie Petteri Rimpinen, who stopped 28 of 31 shots and made several highlight-reel saves late in the game, Finland refused to give up and kept hanging around.
"Showtime, that's all I'm saying about him," Kiviharju said of the nickname given to Rimpinen. "He's just so good. Once again today, if he wouldn't have been there we probably wouldn't not be winning right now. He made 'Grade A' saves so many times. So reliable between the pipes."
With less than 10 minutes remaining in the third period, Finland rallied from behind and took a 3-2 lead on goals from Leo Tuuva and Joona Saarelainen. American forward Ryker Lee tied things up with 1:33 remaining. Alas, the Americans fell short of the comeback, as Valila scored the OT-winner on a snapshot that beat Nick Kempf high stick-side.
"It was actually funny, I supposed to go next on the ice and Arttu was close to our bench with the puck and the coach was saying, 'Change! Change!' I'm like, nope, don't change, stay on the ice and I think it went pretty well this time," said Kiviharju. "Amazing goal. I think it's pretty nice, especially for a player who, I think it's his second goal of the year."
The win ruined what had been Cole Hutson's miraculous return to the tournament. Days after being knocked out cold by a shot to the back of the head, it sure didn't take long for Hutson to heat up again. The U.S. defenseman, who missed two games from a scary incident on Dec. 27, had a goal and an assist.
Hutson finished the game with two points. In the process, the Washington Capitals prospect became Team USA's all-time leading scorer among defensemen at the world juniors with 15 points. Even more remarkable was that he did it in a tournament where it looked like he was going home after two games.
"I rushed myself back but didn't do enough to help my team win," said Hutson, who was visibly emotional following the loss. "I don't have a gold medal around my neck. I could have scored a goal in overtime. I could have done plenty of things better."
It was a harsh, if not brutal, assessment from a player who a week ago was lying on the ice unconscious following a freak accident, where a shot from the point connected with the back of his head. Hutson had to be stretchered off the ice, and it was not immediately clear whether he would return.
"I just got knocked out cold and woke up and, for a few minutes, I couldn't move anything on my body," Hutson told reporters days after the incident. "It's never a good feeling when you wake up after you get knocked out, so I was obviously terrified and just praying that I was healthy again."
Hutson missed Team USA's following two games, which included a 6-5 win against Slovakia and a 6-3 loss to Sweden.
Against Finland, Hutson could only do so much as Finland orchestrated the biggest upset so far of the tournament.
"I said it before the game, they're an unbelievable hockey team," said Hutson. "It's a game of bounces when two teams are that good."
On the other side, Finnish goalie Rimpinen heaped praise on an American team that fell short of its goal of winning three straight gold medals.
"I've got to feel bad for them," said Rimpinen. "Heck of a hockey team. They battled right down the wire, but we just came up with the big goal this team. But we know what happened last time around."
Rimpinen, who was named the top goalie at last year's tournament, had been on the losing side a year ago. When asked how long he had been thinking about exacting revenge, the Los Angeles Kings prospect smiled.
"I waited for this the whole year," said Rimpinen. "All the time, in the back of my mind, just wanting to go far because these are once-in-a lifetime experiences … everything I did for the year was for this."
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