Canada’s men’s hockey team narrowly beats Finland in the Olympic semifinal, advancing to the gold‑medal match
Canada’s men’s hockey team is headed to the Olympic finals after beating Finland 3-2 in the semifinals. They will play for the gold on Sunday, while Finland will play for the bronze tomorrow.
Canada’s opponent in the finals will be determined later today, when the U.S. men’s team faces off against Slovakia.
The match came one day after the U.S. women’s team defeated Canada and scored a gold medal in a thrilling 2-1 overtime comeback.
Canada played an offensive game, taking 39 shots on goal. Finland played defensively and took 17 shots.
Finland’s Mikko Rantanen scored the game’s first goal while the team was on a power play with just three minutes left in the first period. He managed to get the puck seconds after a face-off near Canada’s net, then send it hurtling past Canadian goalie Jordan Binnington.
Early in the second period, Erik Haula scored a second goal for Finland after breaking away from the pack and speeding down the ice to shoot the puck past Binnington.
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Canada scored its first goal in the last minutes of the second period while on a power play. Team Canada’s Sam Reinhart was credited with the goal after deflecting a down-the-ice shot from teammate Cale Makar into the net to roars from the crowd. Canadian outlet CBC reported there were far more Canadian fans in the crowd than Finns, and that the energy was high inside the arena.
Canada tied it up in the third period when Shea Theodore shot the puck past Finnish goalie Juuse Saros during a scrum at Finland’s net.
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Canada took the lead in the final 35 seconds of the game when Nathan MacKinnon scored during a power play. The goal happened after a series of rapid passes just in front of Finland’s net.
The play was immediately challenged, with referees reviewing at multiple camera angles to ensure it had not gone offsides, but was confirmed by referees.
The last 20 seconds of the game were played as a five-on-five faceoff, with Finland pulling their goalie from the net. Finland took a shot on goal in the last seconds, but the puck was caught by Binnington.
