TAMPERE, Finland –
Canada and Finland won the semifinals on Saturday to host the third consecutive gold medal battle between the teams in the IIHF World Hockey Championship.
Finland won gold in 2019 in Slovakia, the 2020 tournament was canceled due to the pandemic, and Canada won gold last year in Latvia. This time Finland will have home ice for Sunday’s championship match at Nokia Arena.
“We know the building will shake and the Finns are playing for gold at home,” said Canadian striker Dylan Cosens. “But we have to try to have a strong start and not allow (Finland) to gain momentum from our fans.”
Cosens scored two goals and assisted in Canada’s 6-1 victory over the Czech Republic. Finland beat the United States 4-3 in the other semifinal.
Canada withdrew, scoring three goals in three minutes and 19 seconds in the middle of the second period. Kent Johnson’s goal was sandwiched between goals from Adam Lowry and Matt Barzal.
“The Czechs were good at the penalty shootout throughout the tournament and we were able to take advantage of some powerful games tonight,” said Canadian head coach Claude Julien. for this, as we managed to do against the Czechs.
“We know that Finland is strong in the special teams and therefore we expect a difficult match tomorrow night.”
David Krejci opened the scoring for the Czech Republic and Cosens equalized at the end of the first period. Drake Butterson made two assists for Canada.
Cole Salinger had an insurance goal for the Canadians, who beat the Czech Republic 35-26. Canadian player Chris Dreiger made 25 saves.
“Tomorrow (Finnish fans) will have some difficulties and we will have to overcome them,” said Canadian striker Pierre-Luc Dubois. “We have a lot of confidence in ourselves and we know what we are capable of.”
The Americans will play with the Czech Republic for bronze on Sunday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on May 28, 2022.
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