What another instant classic we were given: the intense semifinal between Canada and Finland. Another game where Canada was the overwhelming favorite and was supposed to win easily, given their roster against a banged-up Finnish team, but Finland didn't back down at all. 

Canada stormed back from a two-goal deficit to squeak past Finland 3-2 in a semifinal thriller that showcased the highest level of hockey being played in the world. 

The defense and physicality late in this game were crucial to Canada's win, as evidenced by the veteran presence of Drew Doughty, who now has a shot at winning his third gold medal in just a few days. 

While Joel Armia is now out of gold-medal contention, he will compete for the bronze medal against the loser of the USA vs. Slovakia game. Armia was solid today after having zeroes in his last outing on the statsheet; he finished today's match with one assist and one point. 

Canada did a good job limiting Armia and the Finns' offense from getting good looks on the goal as they got outshot 39-17, clearly getting naturalized after that 2-0 lead. 

Mikko Rantanen and Erik Haula opened the scoring for Finland, getting loose in the first and second periods, giving the Finns the early 2-0 advantage. It was a near-perfect opening for the Finns; this is what they had to do, putting Canada on the brink and pressuring them to come back and win the game. 

Armia got the nice assist to Haula in the second period action, where Finland went up 2-0 and also recorded his fifth point of the tournament on the penalty kill. Armia remained very effective on ice. Defensively, he was pressuring Canada's offense with his stick and physically along the boards. 

With Armia's offense not being much of a factor today, credit him for finding another way to be effective for Finland. It was all Finland on defense very early in this game, frustrating Canada and looking to upset the heavy favorites. 

Canada's power play kept them alive in this one, finishing 2/4 on the day. 

Sam Reinhart for Canada scored their first goal at the three-minute mark of the second period, where they really started to get momentum from this point on. Midway through the third, Canada struck again, this time Shea Theodore tying the game, 2-2, putting all the pressure now on Finland. 

Doughty may not have seen the scoresheet today, but once again, his constant defense and defensive assignment with his aggression were all over the ice today. 

As Finland pushed late, Doughty and the rest of Canada's players tightened up on defense, limiting the Finns' second-chance opportunities. A legitimate argument can be made for Doughty to be the most important player on this team because of what he brings to the locker room and on the ice with his personality, and because he puts a pin in the tension at the right moment when games get tight. 

The deciding factor came in overtime when Nathan MacKinnon buried the power-play goal to help send Canada to the gold medal round, winning 3-2. 

It was Canada's second power play of the day, and this time it was the deciding outcome. 

Canada will now advance to the gold medal round on Friday, awaiting its opponent, either the USA or Slovakia, which will be the deciding opponent. And Finland will play tomorrow against the loser of the USA-Slovakia game for the bronze medal at 2:30 PM EST.  

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