Czechia upsets Canada; goalie stops seven of eight shootout attempts to fuel Sweden, which knocked off Finland in semis to set up a championship game on Monday
Love Harenstam and his Swedish teammates needed to regroup.
After allowing a game-tying goal with 5:59 remaining in the third period, Sweden and Finland were poised for another fantastic finish at the IIHF 2026 World Junior Championship.
It would ultimately come down to a shootout, also known as a skills competition, and which goalie -- or shooter -- would stand tall.
A St. Louis Blues prospect, a sixth round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, Harenstam would accept the challenge.
The 20-year-old made would go 7-for-8 on shootout attempts, including making six of them on saves, and Sweden would outland the Finns 4-3 at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minn.
In the eighth and final round, Harenstam would stop Finland's Matias Vanhanen and Chicago Blackhawks prospect Anton Frondell would score to send the Swedes to the championship game.
Besides from only allowing one goal on eight shootout attempts, Harenstam stopped 33 of 36 shots, including this beauty glove save late in overtime while the Finns were on the power play:
Here's another beauty early in the game:
Harenstam has a 2.52 goals-against average and .907 save percentage heading into Monday's gold medal game against Adam Jiricek (2024 first round pick, No. 16) and Czechia, which took out Canada for the third straight year, 6-4, in the nightcap.
The defenseman and Blues prospect did not factor in the scoring but played 21:55 and was on full display defensively against some of Canada's top stars.
Jiricek was also named one of Czechia's three best players:
It sets up the gold medal matchup on Monday at 7:30 p.m., so the two Blues prospects in the tournament this year will finish with gold and a silver.
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