By USA Hockey, 08/01/25, 8:15PM EDT
MINNEAPOLIS – The penultimate day of games at the 2025 World Junior Summer Showcase were played here today at Ridder Arena, as Sweden defeated Canada, 8-4, while Finland topped the U.S., 6-3.
The event serves as an evaluation for athletes seeking to make their respective national teams for the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, set for Dec. 26, 2025, through Jan. 5, 2026, in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Below are recaps from the two games.
Eric Nilson opened the scoring 6:21 into the first, as he corralled a pass from Alexander Zetterberg and wristed a shot from the slot home to give Sweden an early lead.
Lucas Petterson extended Sweden’s lead :51 later, poking a rebound past Canadian goaltender Evan Gardner after a shot from Felix Öhrqvist.
Canada struck back with 3:04 to play in the frame, as Cole Reschny found the back of the net on a sharp-angle shot that beat Swedish netminder Love Härenstam.
Eddie Genborg regained the two-goal lead for Sweden 2:18 into the second, as he deflected a shot from the point off the stick of Sascha Boumedienne home. Liam Danielsson added a fourth Swedish goal 1:26 later, capitalizing on a breakaway.
Sweden brought the score to 5-1 with 10:43 left in the period, as Victor Johansson ripped a shot past Gardner from the left faceoff circle.
Brady Martin cut Canada’s deficit to three with 2:09 left in the middle frame, as he beat Härenstam with a short-side wrister from the right circle. Nilson added his second of the game with :56 remaining to give Sweden a 6-2 advantage heading into the third.
Melvin Fernström scored 5:34 into the third on a wrister from the left circle to extended Sweden’s lead to five. Canada’s Cayden Lindstrom responded :46 later, scoring on a quick shot from just outside the crease.
Wilson Björck added a goal for Sweden with 5:53 remaining, while Michael Hage scored for Canada with :31 left on a shot from the slot to account for the 8-4 final.
Aatos Koivu gave Finland a 1-0 lead at 12:54 of the first period on a wrister just outside the slot after a cross-ice pass.
Jasper Kuhta ripped a one-timer home on the power play at 8:26 of the period to give Finland a 2-0 advantage.
Finland extended its lead to 3-0 at 14:06, as Koivu scored his second on a rebound chance to the left of U.S. goaltender Kam Hendrickson (Chanhassen, Minn.).
Will Moore (Ithaca, N.Y.) responded 22 seconds later with Team USA’s first goal of the contest, as he slipped a shot through Finnish netminder Petteri Rimpinen’s five-hole on a breakaway. EJ Emery (Compton, Calif.) and Mac Swanson (Anchorage, Alaska) assisted on the tally.
Joona Saarelainen extended the Finnish lead to three with 3:04 left in the period, deflecting home a shot from the point.
Team USA scored :36 into the third on the power play, as LJ Mooney (West Mifflin, Pa.) fired a one-timer from the left circle after a pass from Logan Hensler (Woodbury, Minn.) past Rimpinen to make it 4-2.
Matias Vanhanen scored at 2:48 on a wrist shot to give Finland a three-goal advantage, while Kuhta tallied on the power-play to extend the lead to four with 8:42 to play.
Will Zellers (Maple Grove, Minn.) fired home a wrister from the bottom of the left circle at 16:40 to account for the 6-3 final.
Games Conclude Tomorrow
Game action in the World Junior Summer Showcase concludes tomorrow (Aug. 2) as Finland faces Sweden at 1:00 p.m. CT, while the U.S. takes on Canada at 4:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are available online here. All games from the WJSS are streamed live and on-demand on USAHockeyTV.com.
Tag(s): WJSS World Juniors 2022 NJEC 2024 IIHF WJC