Kulich scores in OT as Czech Republic beats Sweden to reach World Junior Final
David Jiricek tied the game with 39 seconds left in regulation and Jiri Kulich scored in overtime on Wednesday as the Czech Republic came back to beat Sweden 2-1 and advance to the World Hockey Championship final in Halifax.
Ludvig Jansson scored in the second period for Sweden, who looked set to advance to the golden game for the first time since 2018.
Jiricek gave the Czech Republic life when he ripped a shot from just outside the left face-off circle past Swedish goalkeeper Carl Lindbom with time on the clock.
Kulich sent the Czech Republic to the tournament final when he cut in from the right wing and beat Lindbom 9:10 into the extra frame for his fifth goal of the tournament.
CZECH REPUBLIC IS PLAYING FOR GOLD FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2001!!!
π¨πΏ @narodnitym wins the semi-final in overtime over πΈπͺ @Trekronorse as @Kulda151 is the hero. #WorldJuniors #CZESWE pic.twitter.com/EtkhW34Bqb
β@IIHFHockey
Tomas Suchanek made 21 saves for the Czechs, while Lindbom stopped 29 shots for Sweden.
The Czech Republic advanced to the gold medal game for the first time since winning back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001.
Earlier on Wednesday, Latvia beat Austria 4-2 to sweep the best-of-three relegation series.