Canada rallies past Finland to earn spot in gold-medal game

The Olympic men’s hockey semifinals kicked off Friday morning, with the opening course featuring a heavyweight matchup between Canada and Finland.

Both the Canadians and Finns have made it this far thanks to overtime thrillers in the semi-finals, but that victory came at a cost for Team Canada. Captain Sidney Crosby was injured by a kick from the Czech Republic’s Radko Gudas and left the game early.

It was announced shortly before puck drop on Friday that he would be out of the lineup against Finland.

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This was the last bit of news Canada needed against a very good Finnish team that was playing much better physically than the Finnish teams of Olympics history.

The Finns opened the scoring near the end of a fast and physical opening frame when Mikko Rantanen lit the lamp just seconds in on Finland’s power play after Canada’s Sam Bennett opened the door for goaltender interference.

Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros stood out multiple times as the Canadiens got much more rubber at the net than the Finns.

Special teams remained a big story as we got our first taste of the Crosby-less Canadian power play after Sebastian Aho was called for interference, but things quickly went off the rails.

Finland stunned Canada by managing to move the puck out of its own zone, burying Nashville’s Erik Haula to set up a short-handed breakaway for a 2-0 lead.

Canadian Nathan MacKinnon (29) scored Canada’s third goal in the men’s ice hockey semifinal match between Canada and Finland at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. Milan, Italy, February 20, 2026. (Petr David Josek/AP Photo)

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About ten minutes later, Finland’s Anton Lundell scored a very fierce penalty and — would you believe it? – Special teams were once again in the story, but this time it was in Canada’s favor.

Lundell’s Florida Panthers teammate Sam Reinhart deflected Cale Makar’s shot from the point to avoid that goose egg for the Canadiens.

Canada continued to build pressure and they outscored the Finns 29-14 with less than ten minutes left in regulation.

This pressure resulted in a Shea Theodore missile from the top of the rim finding the back of the net.

The Finns were not happy with Brad Marchand’s contact with Saros, but if you watch it again it is clear that the contact was initiated by Finland’s Erik Haula.

Canada never took their foot off the gas after that, and that pressure certainly played a part in Finland’s Niko Mikkola getting a penalty for his high kick on Nathan MacKinnon with about two and a half minutes left in regulation.

Canada’s Nathan MacKinnon, 29, celebrates with his teammates after scoring Canada’s third goal during the men’s ice hockey semifinal match between Canada and Finland at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. Milan, Italy, February 20, 2026. (Petr David Josek/AP Photo)

And once again, special teams occurred, with Nathan MacKinnon scoring the game-winner with just 35.2 seconds left in regulation.

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The Finns disputed the goal, saying the Canadians had entered the offside zone – and was it so close; totally worth a try – but the call stood and Team Canada took a 3-2 lead.

That’s how it ended, with the Canadians going on a 3-0 rally to clinch their spot in Sunday’s gold medal game; where they will face the winner of the other semifinal match between Team USA and Slovakia on Friday afternoon.

As for the Finns, they still have some business to take care of as they will face the loser of the match in Saturday’s bronze medal match.

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