Team Canada advanced to the men’s hockey gold-medal game after a 3-2 comeback victory over Finland on Friday in Milan.
Canada Rewarded for Trusting Process
Finland executed a nearly perfect game plan for an underdog in a do-or-die situation. They controlled the style of play from puck drop to the final buzzer.
The Finns forced Canada to consistently dump the puck in by holding firm at the defensive blue line. They protected goalie Juuse Saros by packing bodies and sticks into every passing and shooting lane. Saros finished with 36 saves in the loss.
Saros didn’t give up many rebounds. The ones he did were quickly cleared by defenders.
Finland won a disproportionate number of key faceoffs and puck battles across the ice, especially early on.
But the Canadians kept pressing. Led by a supercharged top line of Connor McDavid, Macklin Celebrini, and Nathan MacKinnon, they fought through the defensive wall Finland created.
Late in the second period, they finally capitalized on the power play. That brought the score to 2-1 in what had been an extremely tense battle.
Sam Reinhart was credited with the goal. It was rather fitting for one of the six original players named to Team Canada.
Reinhart had been arguably Canada’s most disappointing player in Italy until that moment. He needed that tip-in as much as Canada’s bench and the country’s stressed fans needed it.
The same pace-pushing mentality continued through Shea Theodore’s equalizer midway through the third period. It carried through MacKinnon’s eventual game-winner with 35 seconds remaining.
Canada didn’t let up despite Finland’s consistent defensive pressure.
Jon Cooper’s team trusted the process. It ultimately paid off.
MacKinnon’s First Signature Moment
Captain Sidney Crosby missed Friday’s game due to injury. That left leadership and production voids that needed filling.
Enter MacKinnon, a fellow native of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. At 30 years old, he’s the odds-on favorite to win the 2026 Hart Trophy.
Make no mistake: MacKinnon didn’t have an exceptional game overall. However, the Avalanche superstar executed in the clutch by drawing a penalty and then beating Saros with a choppy one-timer.
It was the first signature Olympic moment for the consensus No. 2 player in the world.
Whether an injury is holding MacKinnon back or he can’t get into a proper groove for other reasons, No. 29 has had a relatively underwhelming first Winter Games. The fact that he hasn’t been centering his own line for most of the tournament says a lot about how he and other Canadian forwards have looked shift to shift.
The elite of the elite find a way to contribute in defining moments.
Canadians hope the winner versus Finland isn’t MacKinnon’s final legacy-building play in Milan.
Cooper Adjusts, Rewards Right Players
Celebrini was the best player on the ice Friday. For about half the game, he was the only Canadian infiltrating Finland’s structure and firing slot shots on net.
The 19-year-old finished with a game-high nine scoring chances, according to data tracked by hockey analyst Dimitri Filipovic. He also assisted on the game-winner.
Cooper rode Celebrini to a team-high 25:53 in ice time.
Celebrini, McDavid, and MacKinnon were rightfully sent over the boards for the vast majority of Canada’s offensive zone faceoffs. Early on, Theodore and Travis Sanheim shared the ice with the McDavid line in those situations.
That came back to haunt Canada. Sanheim failed to convert multiple grade-A opportunities.
Cooper adjusted his deployment as the game progressed. Top-pair defensemen Cale Makar and Devon Toews linked up with the McDavid line in high-leverage moments.
The result: McDavid and Makar also played 25-plus minutes. MacKinnon logged 21:52, and Toews skated for 22:14.
The sixth Canadian to hit 20 minutes? Young defenseman Thomas Harley, who helped power the transition game at 20:44.
Shortening the bench with such game-breaking talent available seems like a no-brainer. But coaches will often begin double-shifting their top performers only when it’s too late.
Cooper also trusted the Brad Marchand–Sam Bennett–Tom Wilson line on defensive zone draws. That line didn’t play much overall, but when it did, the Canadians matched Finland’s physicality.
The puck tended to move in the right direction – away from goalie Jordan Binnington.
Speaking of Binnington: The Blues netminder once again looked shaky at times and once again emerged victorious in the end.
Canada outshot Finland 39-17.
That type of lopsided game can be a grind for the underworked, cold goalie. Binnington allowed a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal, but made just enough big saves to keep the game within reach for his superstar teammates.
