Tij Iginla and Maxmilian Curran scored minutes apart late in the first as Canada and Czechia head to the dressing room tied 1-1 after 20 minutes in their semifinal matchup at the World Junior Championship.
Canada got the first power play opportunity of the game when Tomas Poletin was called for goaltender interference, and Iginla would take advantage with the man-advantage. After a point shot went wide and off the end boards, Michael Misa found the puck in the scramble and got it to a wide-open Iginla in front of the net, who tapped it in to the open net.
Curran responded under two minutes later to even the score. After Canadian goaltender Jack Ivankovic made a pad save on Tomas Galvas, the rebound kicked right to Curran, who was able to sneak the rebound underneath his outstretched pad for the equalizer.
Ivankovic got the start for Canada and gets his first look at the Czechs in this year’s tournament after Carter George started in the opener. Ivankovic made nine saves in the first period.
The winner will move on to face Sweden in the gold medal game after their 4-3 shootout win over Finland earlier on Sunday.
Czechia has eliminated Canada in the quarter-finals in each of the past two World Junior Championships.
Canada is looking to win its first gold medal since 2023, while Czechia is trying to end a drought that began back in 2001.
Canadian defenceman Zayne Parekh leads the tournament with 10 points (six goals, four assists) while Gavin McKenna and Michael Hage are tied for second, along with Czech forward Vojtech Cihar, with nine points.
