Czechia advanced to the gold medal game of the 2026 World Junior Championship with a 6-4 semifinal victory over Canada on Sunday.
New York Islanders prospect Tomas Poletin scored the winning goal with 1:14 left in the third period. Czechia will face Sweden for gold Monday night (8:30 p.m. ET). Canada will take on Finland in the bronze medal game (4:30 p.m.).
It's the third straight year Czechia has beaten Canada in the playoffs. The previous two were in the quarterfinal. The winning goals came with 40 seconds left in 2025, and 11 seconds left in 2024.