Team Canada to play for men’s hockey gold at Milano Cortina 2026
Team Canada will play for gold at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games men’s hockey tournament.
With goals from Sam Reinhart, Shea Theodore and Nathan MacKinnon, Canada erased a two-goal deficit to defeat Finland 3-2 in semifinal play at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on Friday, pushing the Canadians into the championship game.
Canada will play the winner of the day’s other semifinal, which features the United States and Slovakia, in the gold medal game. Puck drop for the championship match will be Sunday at 8:10 a.m. ET.
This will be the first time Canada has played for Olympic men’s hockey gold since Sochi 2014, a game that saw the Canadians defeat Sweden 3-0. The Sochi tournament was the last Olympic Games to feature National Hockey League players.
READ: Canada advances to men’s hockey semifinals with overtime win over Czechia
Both Canada and Finland advanced to the semifinals with come-from-behind overtime wins in quarterfinal play. The Canadians erased a late 3-2 third period deficit to defeat Czechia while the Finns scored two third period goals in their victory over Switzerland.
Canada needed to be patient again Friday, battling through the Finnish defense and scoring twice in the third period.
“I mean, what choice do you have really? You’ve got to just break them down some way and it took all 60 minutes to do it,” said Connor McDavid, who had two assists in the win. “Slowly but surely we could feel the ball rolling and that momentum building. Big goal by Rhino to get us going, big goal by Theo to tie it and a bigger one by Nater at the end to top it up.”
The Canadians entered the game with a 4-0 record, which included finishing 3-0 in preliminary round play and securing the No. 1 seed for the playoff stage. Finland, meanwhile, finished second in Group B with a 2-1 record and secured the No. 4 seed, meaning they didn’t have to play in the qualifying round.
Canada played Friday’s game without captain Sidney Crosby, who was injured in the quarterfinals. In place of Crosby, Sam Bennett was added to the lineup while McDavid was Canada’s captain. Defenseman Josh Morrissey remained out.
“It means a lot, you know, just keeping the ‘C’ warm for Sid,” said McDavid on being named captain. “Hopefully we can see him back here on Sunday. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for him to to miss tonight and I’m sure it was a long game to watch – I know that for a fact. It means a lot to represent our country here as a team and the sport we love. That what it’s all about.”
The McDavid line generated the game’s first scoring chance when he found Macklin Celebrini in front but his quick shot was denied by goaltender Juuse Saros.
READ: Team Canada stays undefeated with blowout win over France
Finland went to the power play at 9:51 when Canada was caught with too many men. Canada produced a strong penalty kill, not allowing the Finns to register a shot on goal.
Bennett ran into Saros at 16:52 and was called for goaltender interference. Just two seconds into the power play, Mikko Rantanen ripped a shot past Jordan Binnington from the faceoff circle, giving Finland a 1-0 lead.
Canada came out strong to start the second period, carrying the play in the Finnish zone. The pressure led to a Finland penalty, sending Canada to their first man advantage of the game. Momentum flipped though when Erik Haula scored on a breakaway at 3:26 to double Finland’s lead.
“Obviously they came out hard and they capitalized on their chances early and that shorthanded goal kind of set us back a little bit,” said Celebrini. “But we didn’t quit and we kept it going.”
RECAP: Top line leads Team Canada to win over Switzerland
Shots were 7-2 Canada halfway through the second period but the team struggled to generate quality chances against a strong Finnish defense. At 13:35, Canada went back to the power play when Anton Lundell was called for a high stick. On that man advantage, a Cale Makar point shot went off the stick of Reinhart and in, making it a 2-1 game at 14:20.
Lundell had a good chance for Finland in the third, speeding past the Canadian defense but was stopped by Binnington.
Canada began to press offensively as the period continued. The offense broke through at 10:34 when Theodore let a big shot go from the point that beat Saros top corner, tying the game at 2-2.
Binnington made another big stop later in the period, denying Sebastian Aho. Mitch Marner then had a good chance for Canada, flying down low only to be stopped by the toe of Saros.
With 2:35 remaining, Niko Mikkola was called for a high stick on Nathan MacKinnon. With 35.2 seconds left on the clock, MacKinnon finished off a passing play to put Canada in front 3-2. Finland challenged the goal for offside but it was allowed.
By challenging the goal, the Finns had to serve a delay of game penalty. With Saros on the bench to make it five-on-five, Finland applied some pressure late but could not net an equalizer.
