It was another heart-racing showdown for Canada on the Olympic stage, this time against a determined Finnish squad anchored by the Dallas Stars quartet often dubbed the “Finnish Mafia,” also known as the “Finnish Four.”
In a rivalry that has tightened in recent years, Finland once again pushed Canada to the brink, marking the fourth straight best-on-best meeting between the two nations decided by a single goal.
Finland, powered by Dallas Stars Mikko Rantanen, Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell and Roope Hintz, came out flying and caught the Canadians off guard early.
The tone was set in the opening period when Canada’s Sam Bennett crashed into Finnish goaltender Juuse Saros after driving hard to the crease, giving Finland a power play opportunity. It took just two seconds for the Finns to capitalize.
Off the ensuing faceoff, Sebastian Aho pulled the puck back cleanly to Rantanen, who was positioned high above the circle. Rantanen wasted no time, firing a quick shot past Canada’s Jordan Binnington to give Finland an early 1-0 lead.
Finland continued to apply pressure in the second period even while shorthanded. After stripping the puck in the Finnish zone, Joel Armia worked the puck up the boards to Erik Haula, who broke in alone and buried a shorthanded goal to extend the lead to 2-0. The Finnish bench erupted as the underdogs seized control against the tournament favorites.
Make Sure You Bookmark THN's Dallas Stars site For The Latest News, Exclusive Interviews, Breakdowns, And So Much More.
The Dallas contingent appeared poised to engineer a statement upset as Rantanen led the offensive charge with a goal, though he logged 16:19 of ice time as Finland looked to protect its advantage. Heiskanen and Lindell shouldered heavy defensive workloads, skating 27 and 25 minutes respectively in an effort to hold off Canada’s attack. Hintz added 17:55 of ice time and recorded one shot on goal in a quieter outing.
But Canada pushed back before the second intermission. Defenseman Thomas Harley helped spark the momentum shift as the Canadians finally broke through late in the period to cut the deficit to one. The third period belonged to Canada as they were able to score twice to flip the game.
As the pace intensified, the Finns appeared overwhelmed by the relentless push. Harley finished with three shots on net in 20:44 of ice time, playing a steady role in the comeback effort. When the final horn sounded, Canada had completed yet another dramatic rally, punching their ticket to the gold medal game.
Finland will now regroup ahead of the bronze medal contest on Saturday against the loser of the United States versus Slovakia semifinal.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.