Canada to play for bronze after loss to Finland in World Championship semis
Despite pulling the goalie and generating a late offensive push, Canada could not get past Finland in Saturday’s IIHF World Championship semifinal, falling 4-2.
The loss sends Canada to Sunday’s bronze-medal game against Norway at 9:30 a.m. ET, while Finland advances to face Switzerland in the gold-medal game at 2:20 p.m. ET.
For Canada, it was a tale of two halves. Led by captain Macklin Celebrini and Sidney Crosby, the Canadians carried a one-goal lead through the first period, but they could not withstand Finland’s three-goal surge midway through the second.
“It’s disappointing,” Crosby told TSN post-game. “Did a lot of good things this tournament, even this game, really. I think sometimes you have a bad period, it doesn’t burn you the way that this one did… they’re a tough team when they get the lead.”
While Canada will be disappointed with the result, Saturday’s semifinal was a tight, back-and-forth affair defined by strong checking, limited space, and, ultimately, a handful of Canadian turnovers that helped fuel Finland’s offense.
Canada fell behind early when Finland struck on the counterattack to open the scoring in the first period. The Canadians answered quickly with a bit of good fortune. Denton Mateychuk fired a shot on goal, and after a favourable deflection, Robert Thomas jumped on the loose puck and buried it to even the score.
Dylan Holloway then stayed red-hot, sniping his first goal of the tournament to give Canada a 2-1 lead heading into the second period. The 24-year-old finished with a goal and an assist and was named Canada’s player of the game.
For a moment, Canada had control. But Finland stormed back in the second period, scoring three unanswered goals to take a 4-2 lead into the final frame.
“We were turning pucks over. We weren’t being careful with it,” Celebrini told TSN after the second period.
Canada entered Saturday having outscored opponents 18-4 in third periods during the tournament, but the Canadians could not break through in the final 20 minutes. The Canucks will now continue their pursuit of a podium finish in Sunday’s bronze-medal game against Norway, which suffered a 6-0 loss to Switzerland in the other semifinal.
