Sweden tops Finland in shootout to make final at world junior hockey championship

SAINT PAUL — Anton Frondell had already tried a move to the backhand and another to the forehand.

The Swedish centre decided on a more straightforward approach with the third shootout effort Sunday.

Now his country has a chance to capture just its third gold medal at the world junior hockey championship.

Frondell scored the winner in the eighth round of the shootout as Sweden topped Finland 4-3 in a wild semifinal at the annual men’s under-20 tournament.

The No. 3 overall pick at the 2025 NHL draft by the Chicago Blackhawks sealed the victory with a shot through Petteri Rimpinen’s five-hole after his first two chances were denied.

“I blacked out,” Frondell said. “It was an amazing feeling … happy the last one went in.”

The 19-year-old hit both posts on Sweden’s second opportunity and then lost the handle on the sixth — players can repeat after their country’s fifth attempt — before No. 8 found the back of the net.

“I love it,” Frondell said of pressure-packed situations. “This game, it was crazy, long game, tight, overtime, everything. Just one goal and then it’s over. You love to play those games.”

Ivar Stenberg and Eddie Genborg added a goal and an assist each in regulation for the Swedes, while Linus Eriksson provided the rest of the offence. Love Harenstam made 33 saves in 70 minutes of action, including a back-and-forth 3-on-3 overtime.

Atte Joki, Jasper Kuhta and Joona Saarelainen replied for the Finns. Rimpinen stopped 29 shots at Grand Casino Arena, home of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild.

Sweden will play Czechia in Monday’s gold-medal game after the latter beat Canada 6-4 in Sunday’s other semifinal. Finland will face Canada for bronze. Sweden is looking to win its third world junior crown after topping the podium in 1981 and 2012.

The Swedes last made the final on home soil at the 2024 tournament in Gothenburg, when they fell 6-2 to the United States.

Sweden opened the scoring 36 seconds into the first period. Joki tied it with a shot past Harenstam’s glove at 16:26 for Finland, which lost out to the Americans 4-3 in overtime in last year’s title showdown in Ottawa.

Stenberg, one of the top prospects for the 2026 draft, pushed his country back in front at 1:20 of the second when he rifled a puck home from the slot before Kuhta again knotted things up 50 seconds later when his initial effort that hit the glass was accidentally batted off Harenstam and in by Swedish defenceman Alfons Freij.

Genborg broke that 2-2 tie at 14:07 of the second when he banked a shot in off Rimpinen from below the goal line.

Finland got a power play midway through the third when Stenberg went off for tripping, but failed to register a shot on goal before Leo Tuuva took an undisciplined slashing penalty late in the man advantage.

Saarelainen gave the Finns life when he took advantage of a fortunate bounce off a teammate in front at 13:01 to make it 3-3 and force a wild extra period and that drama-filled shootout.

“It’s not that high pressure on us,” Frondell said of the final. “I feel like we can just win everything.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 4, 2026.