Teddy Stiga scores on overtime breakaway to give US 2nd straight world junior title

OTTAWA, Ontario — Teddy Stiga scored on a breakaway at 8:04 of 3-on-3 overtime to give the United States a 4-3 victory over Finland on Sunday night in the world junior hockey championship game.

The Boston College winger collected a forward pass from Denver’s Zeev Buium and beat goalie Petteri Rimpinen through the leg pads to end it.

“I’m so happy for the kid,” said U.S. captain Ryan Leonard, Stiga’s teammate at BC. “He was scratched at the start and fought his way into the lineup. He’s a hell of a player. You see why he’s in the lineup at the end.”

The Americans avenged a 4-3 overtime loss to Finland in group play, overcoming a two-goal deficit in the second period to win their second straight title and seventh overall.

“They had a better start,” said Leonard, who had two assists. “There’s no excuse there, but you saw the way we played in the last ten minutes the second. The ice was tilted and they didn’t really have the puck, and we tied it up. In the third, the puck didn’t go in but all the chances were there. We knew if we stuck to our game, good things would happen.”

Boston University teammates Brandon Svoboda and Cole Hutson scored late in the second period to tie it. Svoboda cut it to 3-2 with 2:22 left on a deflected shot, and Hutson fired a wrist shot from the slot past Rimpinen with 29 seconds remaining.

Michigan State’s Trey Augustine made 21 saves.

“They played really well, but we stuck with it,” Augustine said. “We were down 3-1, which isn’t ideal, but we capitalized in overtime. It’s unbelievable. There’s no better feeling. They took it to us in the first period, but the last 40 and overtime, we handled the play.”

Tuomas Uronen gave Finland a 2-1 lead with 6:57 left in the first period, 59 seconds after Boston College’s James Hagens tied it for the United States. Emil Pieniniemi made it 3-1 at 4:52 of the second.

Jesse Kiiskinen opened the scoring at 7:13.

In the third-place game, Eduard Sale scored in the 14th round of a shootout to give Czechia a 3-2 victory over Sweden on Sunday in the third-place game at the world junior hockey championship. The Czech captain beat Marcus Gidlof on his fifth attempt — and 28th between the teams — with a move to the backhand.

The 2026 tournament will be in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.

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