Surging Czechia set to battle Sweden in first semi-final at World Juniors
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Czechia, who have outscored opponents 31-4 in their four victories at the World Juniors, meet with Sweden - their lone defeat in overtime, last Thursday - in the first semi-final of the tournament Wednesday.
You can watch this game LIVE on the TSN Network, TSN.ca and the TSN App at 2:30pm EST / 11:30am PST.
On the other hand, Sweden have also suffered just one defeat, against Canada last week, versus four victories in tournament action. They pulled off an upset over IIHF's top-ranked team in Finland in the quarterfinals on Monday.
Since 2002, the two squads have combined for just one WJC title, when Sweden claimed their second in 2011. The two squads have a combined four gold medals in tournament history.
The Czech side trail Canada by just two goals for the distinction of highest-scoring team in the tournament. It's been their balanced offensive attack leading the way, with five players having registered at least seven points thus far - no other team can claim more than three.
Carl Lindbom has starred for Sweden this tournament, with a sparkling 1.79 goals against average and a .942 save percentage, which is tops in the tournament. The only team to score more than two goals against Sweden were Canada, when they won 5-1 on New Year's Eve.
Czechia has received six points this tournament from Columbus Blue Jackets' sixth overall pick David Jiricek, a defenceman with the only NHL experience on the Czech roster.
Sweden carry no NHL experience, but have six first-round draft picks in the NHL on the squad, and forward Leo Carlsson is projected to go in the top five in the 2023 NHL Draft.
The winner of this game will advance to the finals to take on the winner of Wednesday night's marquee matchup between Canada and the United States. The finals are scheduled to take place on Thursday.