Full day of World Junior QF action leads into Canada vs. Czechia on TSN
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The quarter-finals have arrived at the 2025 World Juniors, with all four spots in the semifinals set to be determined on Thursday.
Watch every quarter-final game at the World Juniors LIVE Thursday on TSN, TSN.ca and the TSN App.
Slovakia vs. Finland - 5pm ET/2pm PT on TSN
After missing the podium in each of the past two years, Finland is looking to build on a second-place finish in Group A as they enter knockout play.
The Finns got off to a tough start with a 4-0 loss to Canada, but have been undefeated since, including their impressive overtime win over Team USA. Offensive firepower has been missing for Finland, who outscored opponents 10-8 over four group round games. Defensively, the Finns have yet to give up a power-play goal, going a perfect 13 for 13 on the penalty kill.
Slovakia went 1-1-0-2 in the group round, picking up a narrow 2-1 regulation win over Switzerland and a 5-4 overtime win over Kazakhstan. The win over Kazakhstan came despite allowing two shorthanded goals in the final minutes of regulation to push the game to an extra frame. Slovakia also led 3-0 in that game Monday, which was their last of the group round.
"It's tough to find the right words for this game," forward Juraj Pekarcik explained afterwards. "The first period was good, and then we stopped playing hockey. We got scared. But we'll try our best to win the quarter-finals. We played a good game today. Yesterday me and (teammate Dalibor Dvorsky) had a little talk to see what we have to do better. We have to keep going."
Finland won silver at the World Juniors in 2022 and took bronze in 2021, but have failed to win the tournament since claiming victory for the fifth time in 2019.
Canada vs. Czechia - 7:30pm ET/ 4:30 pm PT
Canada has emerged from Group A in the difficult third-place spot and face challenging matchup against high-powered Czechia in their quarter-final.
It's a rematch of last year's quarter-final, in which Czechia scored with just 11 seconds left on a deflected goal to claim a 3-2 victory.
Czechia has been an offensive juggernaut in Ottawa, posting a tournament-high 25 goals over their four games in the group round. They missed out on top seed in Group B with a 4-2 loss to Sweden on Tuesday.
Finding the back of the net against Canada, though, will be no easy feat.
While the Canadians have struggled to find offence, the team has allowed a tournament-low six goals, with none coming in 5-on-5 play. The penalty kill has been their undoing with five power-play goals allowed over a tournament-high 22 times shorthanded.
Staying discipline was the focus from head coach Dave Cameron after handing Team USA seven power plays in Tuesday's loss.
"When we've been playing 5-on-5 I'd say we've been the best team in the tournament," defenceman Sam Dickinson said Wednesday after taking two minors against the Americans. "At this point, it's just about staying 5-on-5 and not letting discipline and dumb penalties get in the way of that."
Canada will change up its lineup for Thursday's quarter-final, with draft-eligible forward Porter Martone coming back in after serving two games as a healthy scratch.
"When he's on his game, he plays a 200-foot game," said Cameron. "He's physical. He's making plays. He's going. I think he's been overthinking it a little bit, which has slowed him down a bit, but I expect a big game."
Martone failed to hit the scoresheet in the first two games of the tournament. The 18-year-old winger has 21 goals and 56 points in 24 games with the Brampton Steelheads.