USA vs. Sweden, World Juniors live stream: Time, TV schedule, and how to watch semifinals

The United States will look to book its second straight trip to the World Junior Championships gold medal game with a semifinal matchup against Sweden on Thursday. The action starts at 4 p.m. ET in Buffalo and will be broadcast live in the U.S. on NHL Network.

The Americans, who are trying to win their first back-to-back World Juniors championships ever, enter this game with three straight wins against some of the best teams in the tournament. In the quarterfinals, Kieffer Bellows scored a pair of goals to lead the U.S. to a 4-2 win over Russia.

However, Sweden may present a bigger challenge than the United States has seen yet. The team boasts one of the best defenseman prospects in recent memory in Rasmus Dahlin, who is widely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. In front of him, there will be a trio of top forward prospects in Alexander Nylander, Elias Pettersson, and Lias Andersson who will give the American defense trouble all day.

Sweden went unbeaten in the group stage with a 3-1-0-0 record, then topped Slovakia, 3-2, in the quarterfinals. It’s the only team in the tournament without a loss, so Team USA will need to be the first team to beat the Swedes to advance.

In goal the Americans will have Maple Leafs prospect Joseph Woll, and Senators prospect Logan Brown returns to the lineup after missing time due to an injury. That would give the U.S. an extra boost in what could be its most challenging game of the tournament yet.

The winner of this matchup will face the winner of the Canada-Czech Republic semifinal in the gold medal game, which is set for 8 p.m. ET on Friday night at KeyBank Center.

Time: 4 p.m. ET

Location: KeyBank Center, Buffalo

TV: NHL Network (U.S.), TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, TSN5, RDS (Canada)

Live stream: TSNGO (Canada only, subscription required)