2026 World Juniors: Top standouts from Czechia vs. Finland

It was an excellent game, as everyone expected – and in the end, Czechia pulled off a 2-1 overtime victory over Finland.

A major penalty to Veeti Vaisanen on his first shift of the game changed everything for the Finns. Matei Kubiesa scored with just 1:52 off the board. It felt like the Czechs would hold on to win the game in regulation. But with 19 seconds left, Emil Hemming managed to beat Michal Orsulak to end his shutout.

That meant the game required overtime, with both teams trading quality chances. But with just over a minute left, Adam Jiricek continued his reign of terror, beating Petteri Rimpinen to win the game 2-1 with an incredible between-the-legs goal.

Here’s a look at the top performers from one of the tightest battles of the tournament:

Czechia

#30 Michal Orsulak, G: Orsulak didn’t have to do much early – he faced just five shots in the first half of the game. But the Finns started to pile on the pressure in the third, and Orsulak held his own for 59 minutes. Given how rough the first game against Canada went, especially glove side, it had to be huge for his confidence as he looks to be Czechia’s No. 1 the rest of the way.

#5 Adam Jiricek, D (St. Louis Blues): Top defenseman? Sure. But he’s also making a case to be the tournament MVP. He has been so, so good for the Czechs in every single game, making some of the best passes you’ll find. That between-the-legs goal to win the game? Insanity.

#23 Tomas Galvas, D: Galvas might be the best player at this tournament. So few players can move with the puck as he does. He’s so smooth, smart and creative and continues to find ways to get pucks through traffic and into dangerous areas. Galvas is undersized, which has led to him getting passed over twice. But with the way he’s playing right now, it’s hard to ignore the Lane Hutson comparisons.

#11 Matej Kubiesa, LW: Kubiesa scored the only goal, but then he also had two other decent chances in the first period on the power play. As a fourth-liner, you don’t expect much. But I thought he did a good job of rushing after guys and breaking up plays. The goal doesn’t hurt, either.

#15 Vojtech Cihar, C (Los Angeles Kings): Another strong showing. He had a couple of decent looks and I thought he brought a ton of speed to his game. In my opinion, Cihar has been one of Czechia’s top players throughout the entire tournament – just engaged, no matter what. He didn’t score today, but he still looked great, which included an assist on the game-winner.

Finland

#30 Petteri Rimpinen, G (Los Angeles Kings): Rimpinen had to be perfect right out of the gate, and although he allowed a goal early, he was a huge reason why the Czechs didn’t skate away with it early. Showtime has shown a tendency to rise to the occasion when the going gets tough, and he faced double the shots in the first half of the game than he had to deal with all of Monday. That can be hard to adjust to, but Rimpinen was a one-man highlight reel early on.

#4 Niklas Nykyri, D: The Finns had just four shots in the first period – Nykyri had three of them. He also killed part of that five-minute major and did a lot more than you’d expect from a so-called seventh defender. He had a few good looks from the point against Latvia, showing a much-improved release from what we’ve seen from him in previous national team events.

#28 Heikki Ruohonen, C (Philadelphia Flyers): Ruohonen has been one of Finland’s better forwards through three games, especially late in that bout against the Danes. Today, he was the only forward who backchecked hard the entire game. The Finns just had nothing going for them with the puck for the most part, and spent most of the game grinding hard in their own zone. Ruohonen kept looking for chances, and he eventually nabbed an assist on the 1-1 goal.

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