Not advancing, Matthew Tkachuk and the United States suffered a 4-0 loss to Canada, while Sandis Vilmanis and Latvia fell 2-0 to Norway.
Breaking out, Vilmanis led Latvia in scoring with 11 points (4G, 7A), which matched his nation’s record for most points ever at the World Championship.
After missing the first three games of the tournament, Tkachuk went on to rack up seven points (4G, 3A) in just five games for the United States.
Building off his NHL debut this season, Marek Alscher potted a pair of goals from the blue line for Czechia.
Trying to help Finland win its first gold medal at the World Championship since 2022, Barkov and Lundell have both been on top of their game.
Lundell has produced six points (4G, 2A), while Barkov is tied for first on the team’s scoring leaderboard with nine points (2G, 7A).
Despite missing the entire season with a knee injury, the Panthers captain looks better than ever.
“I’m just very happy to be back playing again, and that everything feels good,” Barkov told hockeysverige.se.
With a chance to punch their ticket to the gold medal game, Finland will face Canada on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.
In the other semifinal matchup, Norway will battle host Switzerland at 9:20 a.m. ET.
For more information on the World Championship, click HERE.
