Sweden will play the United States for gold on home ice at the world junior hockey championship. The Finns and Czechs will play for bronze on Friday. Jonathan Lekkerimaki scored twice as the tournament hosts defeated the Czech Republic 5-2 on Thursday. Noah Ostlund, Axel Sandin Pellikka and Theo Lindstein also scored for Sweden, while Hugo Havelid made 23 saves. Matyas Melovsky and Tomas Cibulka scored for the Czech Republic. The United States battled back from an early two-goal deficit to down Finland 3-2 and book the other spot in Friday’s final. Cutter Gauthier, Jimmy Snuggerud and Will Smith scored for the Americans, who remained the tournament’s only undefeated team. Oiva Keskinen and Rasmus Kumpulainen scored for the Finns.
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