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Canada should not have been playing this game. They should have beaten the Russians so that they would be playing Slovakia tonight instead. However, a 2-1 loss to Russia on Monday gave Canada an incredibly tough route to the Gold Medal game. The Finns could not have been happy to play Canada either, although they didn’t look outmatched on the ice at all.
The first period was fast paced but ultimately neither team could get on the scoreboard. Canada would get some chances early on after going on the powerplay just two minutes into the game, but their slick passing was much better than their ability to get shots on net and actually score on goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukonen. Later in the period, Finland would get some chances of their own after a Noah Dobson tripping penalty, but Michael DiPietro made the best save of the period with just a few minutes to play.
Despite there being no goals through 20 minutes of play, the Vancouver crowd was already getting behind their country.
The stalemate wouldn’t last long, as Barret Hayton was somehow able to hold onto the puck while falling down and still feed the puck to a streaking Ian Mitchell, who then ripped it top corner. It seemed like Mitchell had the puck for an eternity, and it had one of those “this has to go in” feelings:
That goal didn’t seem to spark the Finns, as Canada still had a few better chances after that as well. Mitchell had opportunities to score more than once, but nothing would come of it. Later in the period, Maxime Comtois delivered an eerily similar hit to defenseman Ville Heinola to the one he delivered against Davyd Barandun in game two of the tournament.
Heinola needed help to get off the ice, and he could hardly put any weight on his leg. It’s hard to tell if it was a bad hit or not, but driving his knee into his opponent can be very dangerous and it’s something that Comtois had done against Switzerland. The rest of the period included a five-hole stop by DiPietro on Nashville prospect Eeli Tolvanen and a few more chances by Comtois and Nick Suzuki, but it was still just 1-0 after 40 minutes with the shots at 23-16 for Finland.
You cold tell that in the third period both sides were getting a bit nervous. The Finns opened up on both sides of the puck, although it was Canada who got incredibly close to adding to their lead a few times. Their best chance included a 3-on-1 that was broken up on a cross-ice pass, but a shot on net might have sealed the deal. The building was getting louder and louder with every chance, and fans were eager for that final buzzer to sound.
It wasn’t until the final three minutes that the Finns began to pour it on, which was to be expected. It was looking like Canada was going to hang on, until Kaapo Kakko went on a mission to do everything he could to tie the game. He used his body to protect the puck, took it below the goal line, and on his own rebound, the shot deflected off of Aleksi Heponiemi’s leg and somehow richocheted past DiPietro...stunning silence followed from the Canadian faithful.
Canada was 47 seconds away from moving on to the semi-finals, but the game headed to 10 minutes of 4 on 4 overtime instead.
Just 1:14 into the frame, Evan Bouchard headed down the ice on a breakaway and had an amazing chance that was taken away---meaning it was penalty shot time. Since anybody can take the shot, Comtois went for it instead, but he was denied by a poised Luukonen.
Then an incredible series of events occurred. Within six or seven seconds, it went from looking like Canada was going to win, to Finland actually winning. Noah Dobson was surely going to score if his stick was just a bit stronger...but it decided to break on him at the worst possible moment. Immediately after, the Finns came down the ice and Canucks prospect Toni Utunen buried a fantastic shot top corner to win it in overtime:
It’s heartbreaking to see how close Dobson was to scoring because that net was wide open. This was Canada’s game to win considering how long they led for the entire game plus the fact that they had two golden opportunities in overtime, but the Finns battled hard and just got that one extra break that they needed. For the first time ever, Canada failed to medal on their home soil.
Canada seemed to be in such good position heading into the game against Russia on Monday, and just 48 hours later, they are out of the tournament. It's a harsh reminder of how difficult this tournament can be, even for the best of the best. Hell, Sweden was also eliminated earlier in the day by underdog Switzerland.
Notable Performances:
---Anton Lundell: Lundell isn’t even draft eligible until 2020 as a late 2001 birthday, but he was one of Finland’s best players tonight. He was buzzing every single shift and seemed to create many scoring chances for the Finns.
---Maxime Comtois: good or bad, you are going to notice Comtois almost every single game. His hit on Heinola will get talked about, but he also is one of the most energetic players on the ice. At the same time, missing that penalty shot is going to haunt him.
---Rasmus Kupari: his shot was noticeably much faster than most other players. The Kings have something special with him.
---Barret Hayton: he has so much skill, and you can see why the Coyotes “reached” for him at 5th this past draft.
---Kaapo Kakko: he set up the game tying goal and was instrumental in their comeback.
---Michael DiPietro: he received the best player of the game for Team Canada, and he deserved a better fate. He looked incredibly sad on the ice after the game was over, but he’ll remember fans chanting “Dee-pee-et-ro” for the rest of his life.
---Toni Utunen: he essentially only did one thing tonight, but it was the most important: scoring the OT winning goal.
The top 3 players for Team Canada were named as:
---Michael DiPietro
---Cody Glass
---Maxime Comtois
Finland will play Switzerland in the semi-finals Friday night.
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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