With a furious race to catch up, defending champions Canada saved their chance of winning their 28th world championship gold at the Ice Hockey World Championships in Finland.
The team from the home country of ice hockey defeated eleven-time world champion Sweden in the quarter-finals after being 3-0 down 4-3 (0-2, 0-1, 3-0, 1-0) after extra time and scored in the semi-finals on Saturday in Tampere on the twelve-time world champion Czech Republic, who defeated Germany 4:1 (2:0, 1:0, 1:1).
In the further semifinals, Olympic champion Finland will face the USA. The hosts defeated the Olympic bronze medalists Slovakia 4: 2 (1: 2, 1: 0, 2: 0) after being 0: 2 behind.
The USA, third in the World Cup, beat Switzerland 3-0 (2-0, 0-0, 1-0) in Helsinki.
Carl Klingberg (2nd), William Nylander (8th) and Max Friberg (29th) gave the Swedes a clear lead.
Ryan Graves (42′), Pierre-Luc Dubois (59′) and Matt Barzal (59′) forced Canada into overtime, with Drake Batherson breaking the deadlock after 43 seconds.