Val-d’Or Foreurs forward Julien Gauthier scored two massive goals for Canada in the third period on Monday night as they advanced into the World Junior Hockey Championship semifinals.

Moose Jaw Warriors head coach Tim Hunter and Canada held on for a 5-3 win over a very resilient Czech Republic squad in the quarterfinals at Bell Centre in Montreal.

Team Canada will now face Sweden in the semifinals coming up on Wednesday after the Swedes rolled through the quarters with an 8-3 win over Slovakia on Monday.

The Czechs led Canada 1-0 after one on a goal from Dave Kase, despite the Canadians dominating the shot clock with an 11-4 advantage in the first.

Canada was finally able to break through in the second period when Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds forward Blake Speers potted his first of the tournament just 3:45 into the middle frame.

Saginaw Sting forward Mitchell Stephens put Canada in front 2-1 just a few minutes later, but that lead was short lived as Kelowna Rockets forward Tomas Soustal evened the score back up for the Czechs just 1:26 later.

The Canadians continued to come at the Czechs and found the go-ahead marker from Thomas Chabot on a nice play at the blue-line to make it a 3-2 game heading into the third.

Gauthier’s first of the game came just 3:18 into the third to put Canada up by two, but Prince Albert Raiders forward Simon Stansky had an answer for the Czechs just over two minutes to make it a one-goal game again.

Less than a minute after Stransky’s goal, Gauthier put Canada up by two again with his second of the game and that would be the final nail in the coffin for the Czech Republic.

Imperial product and Kamloops Blazers goalie Connor Ingram turned away 16 shots in the win for Canada, while Czech goalie Jakub Skarek had to make 36 saves in the loss.

The other semifinal game will feature the United States taking on Russia after both teams won their quarterfinal games on Monday. The U.S. faced a tough test, beating Switzerland 3-2, while Russia skated to a 4-0 shutout win over Denmark.

The semifinals will have Russia-U.S. at 2 p.m. on Wednesday and Canada will face Sweden at 6:30 p.m. The Gold Medal and Bronze Medal Games are on Thursday.