Dylan Garand saved 31 pucks, Kent Johnson scored a goal and assisted two others and Canada defeated the Czech Republic 5-2 to reach the world junior hockey championship.
Canada will face Finland — a 1-0 winner over Sweden in the second semifinal — for the title Saturday night.
“It’s exciting to be at this moment now, but the hardest work is ahead,” Garand said.
“We’ve got to do the right things here, get the right rest, recovery and be ready to go.”
Kasper Puutio scored for Finland on a second-period energy play, and Juha Jatkola made 23 stops. Jesper Wallstedt stopped 27 shots for Sweden.
READ MORE: Finland beats Sweden 1-0 to win the world junior gold medal game
Canada’s goalkeeper Logan Stankoven scored a goal and assisted to make it 6-0. Connor Bedard and Mason McTavish also scored.
Stankoven has teamed up with Garand for three seasons in the Western Hockey League’s Kamloops Blazers.
“He’s been steady and solid all the way through,” Stankoven said.
“He’s just so focused and ready to go every game.”
READ MORE: Canada beats Czechia 5-2 to win the world junior hockey gold in Edmonton
Jan Mysak, David Jiricek scored goals for the Czech Republic. Pavel Cajan stopped eight of the shots in the third, while Tomas Suchanek had 22 saves in the second period.
“They’re a good team and they didn’t really get away from their game at all,” Stankoven said.
The Czech Republic defeated the United States 4-2 in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
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