Canada’s goalkeeper Dylan Garrand has been waiting for this golden opportunity for a long time.

More than 18 months after losing to the US in the final at the 2021 World Junior Hockey Championships, he has a chance once again to help Canada capture the tournament’s top prize.

“It’s exciting to be at the moment. But the hardest thing lies ahead,” Garand said on Friday after his team’s 5-2 semi-final loss over Czechia, the country known as the Czech Republic, on Friday.

“We have to do the right things here, get the right rest, recover and be ready to go.”

Canada (6-0-0) will face either Finland (4-1-0) or Sweden (4-1-0) in the gold medal bout on Saturday. The two sides will face each other in the second semi-final on Friday.

Read more: Sweden, Finland reach world junior hockey semi-finals in Edmonton

Garrand blocked 31 of 33 shots on Friday, and a longtime teammate believes he has more to go through in the tournament’s final bout.

“He has been steady and solid in every way. He is just so focused and ready to go into every game,” said Logan Stankoven, who played three seasons with Garrand for the Kamloops Blazers in the Western Hockey League.

“There is a change of pace throughout the game and we will need that to make some big stops tomorrow, no matter where we play.”

Stankoven had one goal and one assist in the semi-finals, and was one of seven players to hit the scoresheet for Canada.

Canada celebrates a goal against Czechia during first period IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship semi-final action on Friday August 19, 2022 in Edmonton.

Kent Johnson had one goal and two assists, while Conor Bedard, Mason McTavish and Joshua Roy also scored, and Olen Zellweger added three assists.

Czech captain Jan Masak put his side on the board in the middle of the third period and later in the frame assisted in David Jirisek’s power-play tally. Jiri Kulich helped in both goals.

Goalkeeper Tomas Suchanek made 22 saves for Czechia (2-3-1) and replaced Pavel Caján to open the third round. Kajan blocked eight shots in relief.

Czechia went down in Wednesday’s quarterfinals in a massive 4-2 victory over defending champions the Americans. Canada earned their place in the semi-finals on the same day with a 6–3 win over Switzerland.

READ MORE: Canada not counting underdog checks ahead of World Junior semi-finals

The undefeated Canadian went out in the second round on Friday with a 4-0 lead, before the Czechs were buried back in the third.

The Canadians restored their three-goal advantage with 5:34 left on the clock when Roy swung a low shot through Cajon’s pads.

Czechia reduced the deficit to 4-2 in the third with a power-play tally of 12:44.

Jirisek dropped a tall bomb from inside the Blue Line, sailing the puck through traffic and defeating Garand Glove Side.

The Czech got on board in the middle of the third when Masak sent a shot through the Canadian netminder for his fifth goal of the tournament.

“They’re a good team and they haven’t really taken off their game at all,” Stankoven said of the Czechs.

Looking to build some ground in the final period, Czechia swapped Netminder for Suchnek with Kajan coming out of the second interval.

Canada wasn’t happy with its second period, either, Garand said.

“We didn’t do our best there for the first 15 minutes and then it was a good five minutes,” he said.

“We knew it wasn’t our best and we really wanted to clean it up and have a good third period.”

Canada’s second power-play goal of the day came 16:21 in the second after Czech Stepan Nemec called for a slash.

McTavish capitalized, uncorking a one-timer from the faceoff circle just outside the crossbar, extending Canada’s lead to 4-0.

McTavish leads the tournament with 15 points (eight goals, seven assists).

For many men the fine was also the cost of the check in another.

With check forward Tomas Urban in the penalty box, Johnson picks up a loose puck along the boards and cuts Stankoven into the ice for a breakaway.

The Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year made some progress and then pushed Suchnek a shot past the hash mark to beat Canada 3-0 at 11:28.

Canada was 2-for-3 in the power play on Friday while Czechia was 1-for-2.

The Czechs came second with renewed fire and beat the Canadians 8-0 in the first five minutes of the period.

Garand was forced to make a solid pad to save 3:55 in the frame after giving Czechia’s Jakob Kos a prime chance.

Canada took a 2–0 lead at the first half, when Bedard scored the country’s second goal late in the opening period.

Nathan Goucher cut the puck through neutral territory, sweeping the 17-year-old event for a breakaway. Bedard ended the game with a blistering shot on Suchanek’s glove side, giving the hosts a 2-0 cushion 15:20 in the game.

The goal was Bedard’s fourth of the tournament.

Suchanek made a brilliant diving stop on a backhand shot from Tyson Foster to keep the game scoreless.

However, the Czech netminder could not get his hands on the puck, and Johnson wasted no time firing it over the crease and opened the scoring 10:04 in the opening frame.

Johnson has two goals in the tournament _ both against the Czechs.

Canada is not worried about who they face in the gold medal game, head coach Dave Cameron said.

“Both are real good teams,” he said. “It must be a dandy game.

“No matter who we face, it’s going to be a fight tomorrow.”

notes: Canada was playing without forward Ridley Gregg, who suffered a shoulder injury early in the quarter-final win over Switzerland. Riley returned to the kidney lineup after having a healthy scratch for four straight games. Canada defeated Czechia 5–1 in the opening round. Czechia have not won a medal in world juniors since 2005 when they won a domestic bronze medal.