Canada had to dig deep on Friday night in Edmonton, falling behind early against a determined Finnish side before storming back to take a 6-3 win and punch their ticket to the gold-medal game. What started as a tough test turned into a statement performance, with the Canadians finding their legs as the game went on and pulling away when it mattered most.

Olli Kylmala scores for Finland on the Power Play at 5:46 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Niklas Borgstrom and Lenni Kokkonen. That was a very weak slashing call against Liam Pue. Like even soft for International rules. –Finland jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the semifinal when Olli Kylmälä blasted a shot home on the power play against Canada. The Finns had already been controlling the play with a big edge in shots before he buried it.

Landon Dupont ties the game up for the Canadians with a blast from the high circles at 18:21 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Edmonton Oil King Kayden Stroeder and Guelph Storms Jaakko Wycisk.–Landon DuPont stepped into a clean one-timer and ripped it past the Finnish goalie to get Canada on the board and tie the game 1-1. The captain just hammered that shot home and the Canadian bench went nuts.

Shots on goal in the first period were 13-11 for the Finns, The Finns were outshooting Canada 10-2 at the half way mark of the period.

Max Poikela gave the Finns the lead at 1:57 of the second period. The assist on the goal went to Lenni Kokkonen–Max Poikela jammed a loose puck home during a big scramble right in front of the Canadian crease to put Finland back up 2-1 early in the second. The Finns just piled in and poked it through while the goalie was down on the ice.

Benjamin Veitch tied the game up for the Canadians at two at 7:06 of the second frame. The assists on the goal wne to Halifax Mooseheads Malik L’Italien and Jaakko Wycisk–Benjamin Veitch got a piece of Malik L’Italien’s point shot and tipped it through traffic to tie the game at 2-2. The St. John’s kid just redirected it perfectly and found the net.

The refs gave Maddox Schulta a penalty for a clean hit. The announcers are just as disgusted as I assume everyone is. They put a 5:00 on the board🙄🤔They took it off. Yeah that guy will never ref at this level again🙄

Camryn Warren had a great rush, Liam Pue tipped it in… but it was reviewed for goalie interference on Landon DuPont and was called back.

Shots on goal in the second period were 10-6 for the Canadians

Malik L’Italien gives the Canadians the lead at 2:31 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Jaakko Wycisk. The goal was reviewed for along time for offside. But in the end ended up good. The assists on the goal went to Benjamin Veitch and Jaakko Wycisk.-Malik L’Italien stepped up from the point and blasted a long shot through traffic that found the back of the net to give Canada its first lead at 3-2 early in the third. The Montreal kid’s goal stood after a long review for offside.

Jaakko Wycisk makes it a 4-2 game for the Canadians at 5:18 of the third period. The assist on the goal went to Benjamin Veitch.–Jaakko Wycisk finished off a nifty play right in front of the net to make it 4-2 early in the third. The Tecumseh kid now has four points in the game with that goal and three assists.

Olli Kylmala gets Finland gets back within one at 12:11 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Luca Santala and Paavo Fugleberg–Olli Kylmälä tucked home a nice pass from Luca Santala right in close to cut the lead to 4-3. The kid from Simo just tapped it in and kept the Finns right in the fight.

With the Finns pulling their goalie late, Benjamin Veitch sealed it from centre ice into the empty net to make it 5-3, and then Kayden Stroeder added one more right at the end to finish things off at 6-3.

Shots on goal in the third period were 14-8 for the Canadians. The Canadians outshot the Finns 35-27 in the game.

For the Canadians Leif Oaten stopped 24 of the 27 shots he faced for the win. For the Finns Samuel Heikkinen stopped 29 of the 33 shots the he faced.

The Canadian Player of the Game is Leif Oaten. The Finnish Player of the Game is Lenni Kokkonen.

Canada plays the USA in the gold medal game on Sunday August 8th,

Semi Final Game Lineup Sheet