A thrilling finish to the Olympic hockey tournament is approaching as the competition nears its conclusion. Today’s schedule features both semifinal matchups and we begin with a clash between Canada and Finland.
Canada, potentially fielding one of its strongest Olympic teams ever, cruised through the group stage and secured the top seed for the playoff round. Their path to the semifinals wasn’t without a scare, however, as they faced a tough challenge from the Czech Republic in the quarterfinal. After building a lead, Canada found themselves tied 3-3 with just four minutes remaining, but a late goal by Suzuki and a decisive breakaway from Marner secured a hard-fought victory.
Leading Scorers:
Macklin Celebrini – 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists)
Nathan MacKinnon – 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists)
Starting Goaltender:
Jordan Binnington – 3 games played, 92.19% save percentage, 1.65 goals against average
Finland finished second in the most competitive group of the Olympic tournament, behind only Slovakia. Despite this, they earned a direct pass to the quarterfinal round thanks to the best goal differential among second-place teams. Their quarterfinal matchup against Switzerland was equally dramatic, as they found themselves trailing 2-0 late in the third period. A furious comeback, fueled by goals from Sebastian Aho and Miro Heiskanen while shorthanded, forced overtime. Artturi Lehkonen then sealed the victory in the ensuing shootout.
Leading Scorers:
Artturi Lehkonen – 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists)
Starting Goaltender:
Juuse Saros – 4 games played, 93.81% save percentage, 1.49 goals against average
