USA Repeats as Gold Medalists With 4-3 Overtime Win Over Finland – The Hockey Writers World Junior Hockey Championship Latest News, Analysis & More

In the gold medal game of the 2025 World Junior Championship, Finland and the United States battled in a rematch from their game on Dec. 29, which Finland won 4-3 in overtime. It was a tightly contested game that ended with the Americans repeating as gold medalists with a 4-3 overtime win, marking the first time they have won gold back-to-back in program history.

Game Recap

Finland kept United States goaltender Trey Augustine busy early, getting a few strong chances, but the Detroit Red Wings prospect answered the bell. It did not take long for the Finns to eventually get one past him, though, as they took advantage of a power play opportunity less than five minutes in. Fellow Red Wings prospect Jesse Kiiskinen found himself in the slot as a late man trailing in off a rush and was wide open. Augustine came out to challenge the shot, but Kiiskinen beat him with a wrist shot that went in between Augustine’s glove and leg pad for an early 1-0 lead for Finland.

That lead held up until the Americans answered back with just under eight minutes remaining in the opening period. A forced turnover in the offensive zone led to Gabe Perreault (New York Rangers) finding Ryan Leonard (New York Islanders), who took a low shot on Finland netminder Petteri Rimpinen. James Hagens crashed the net and battled for two chances on the rebound, with the second beating Rimpinen to tie things at 1-1. The tie game was short-lived, with Finland quickly coming back less than a minute later as a quick rush through the neutral zone ended with Tuomas Uronen (Vegas Golden Knights) firing a wrist shot just under the crossbar on Augustine’s blocker side for a 2-1 Finland lead. That lead would be taken into the second period.

The United States seemed to have more energy in the second period and controlled the shot department. But Finland added to its lead less than five minutes in when it hemmed the United States in its zone for a prolonged period. Emil Pieniniemi (Pittsburgh Penguins) stepped in from the point and fired a shot blocker side past Augustine to extend the lead to 3-1. The Americans continued to pressure Rimpinen and the Finnish defense, finally cashing in twice in the last three minutes of the period to even things up at three aside after 40 minutes. It started with Brandon Svoboda making a strong play to work back up the boards in the offensive zone to get open at the top of the zone. He fired a shot from the point that redirected off a Finland defenseman and past Rimpinen.

Cole Hutson added the third goal off another rush that Leonard made a drop pass to Hutson, who worked his way into the slot and made a strong shot glove side to beat Rimpinen (with the help of a screen by Rimpinen’s own defenseman). The United States outshot Finland 15-4 in the second period.

The United States continued their barrage of shots on Rimpinen in the third period, but the Finnish netminder stood tall, stopping all 11 shots he faced. Finland had a few chances on Augustine, but the Americans played solid defense to limit any major chances. The period went scoreless as the game headed to overtime. In overtime, the United States controlled play, getting several chances to end the game, and finally did when Zeev Buium (Minnesota Wild) made a great stretch pass to Teddy Stiga (Nashville Predators), who beat the Finland defense to score on a breakaway (his first goal of the tournament) shot five-hole to win the gold medal for the Americans.

In the win, the United States moves to 3-0 all-time in overtime in gold medal WJC games. Augustine made 21 saves on 24 shots and Rimpinen made 36 on 40 shots for Finland.

Ryan Leonard earned both the award for the tournament’s best forward and Most Valuable Player (MVP). Rimpinen earned best goaltender honors.

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