Szturc and Czechia advance to gold medal game at World Juniors

Kelowna Rockets forward Gabriel Szturc and Czechia completed the comeback to take down Sweden 2-1 with 50 seconds left in overtime on Wednesday and secure their spot in the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship gold medal game.

Down 1-0 heading into the final minute of the game, David Jiricek launched a one-timer into the net to force overtime. Kulich, the 2022 first-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres, cut in off the right wing and beat Swedish goalie Carl Lindbom as time ticked away.

Szturc registered an assist on the first goal and played 19:24 of ice time.

It will be Czechia’s first appearance in the final in 22 years, they have not won a medal at the tournament since their bronze in 2005 at Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Czechia will face the winner of the U.S.-Canada semi-final for gold on Thursday.