Finland defeated Canada 2-1 in the shootout and 2-1 in the game tonight, moving closer to second place in Group A. Patrik Puistola and Eeli Tolvanen scored in the shootout for the winners while Kent Johnson was the only Canadian to beat Juuse Saros.

It was Canada's first loss after five straight wins while the Finns improve to 4-1-0-1.

Both teams have one game left. Finland plays Slovakia tomorrow afternoon while Canada faces hosts Sweden in the final game of the preliminary round in the evening.



"It was a fun game, even though there was not a lot of scoring," said Teuvo Teravainen. "There were good chances and both goalies played really well. I think we've been playing good defence the whole tournament. On the other side, we haven't scored a lot but defence comes first."

"I'm happy with the way we played except for the score," said Johnson. "We played a solid game. If we keep getting those kinds of chances we're going to score a lot more than one. They're a good checking team, and they were disciplined, and their goalie played really well."

"We just wanted to get into the playoffs, and after that it's one win at a time," Teravainen added. "Right now, we'll focus on tomorrow and after that we'll see who we play. We're making progress and getting tighter as a team. That's the main thing."

The game was played before an enthralled, capacity crowd at Avicii Arena that was mostly pro-Finland with perhaps a few hundred red sweaters sprinkled throughout the stands.

Regardless, they were all treated to a superb hockey game, the kind you remember, the kind you brag about having been to, the kind where you don’t stop ooo’ing and ahhh’ing. 

And a lot of the ooo'ing and ahhh'ing was in appreciation of Finnish goalie Saros, who was sensational. Canada fired 38 shots his way, and he was one shot shy of being perfect. At the other end, Marc-Andre Fleury was excellent when he had to be, turning aside 21 of 22 pucks in 65 minutes of game action.

Although the first period came and went without a goal, there was plenty of razzle dazzle. Phillip Danault had the first good chance, off to the side of the net, but Saros got over to block his shot. 

Finland found its top gear midway through the period on the only power play of the opening 20 minutes. They had possession most of the two minutes in Canada’s end, but misfired or were stoned by the 40-year-old Fleury, who was sensational. And the one time he was beat, Eeli Tolvanen hit the crossbar. 

The Finns had two more power plays in the second. The first was well contained by the Canadians, and the second produced the game’s first goal—shorthanded. The puck bounced over the stick of Harri Pesonen at the point and Noah Dobson scooped it up and raced down on a two-on-one with Ryan O’Reilly. Dobson got the puck over to O’Reilly, who made no mistake with a shot to Saros’s stick side. 

Canada dominated the period besides the goal, taking time away from the Finns and being aggressive on the puck in their own end. Finland kept pace, but just barely. Nevertheless, a 1-0 game after 40 minutes had the makings of a thrilling final 20 minutes…or more.

Finland came out the more determined team in the third and were rewarded. Nikolas Matinpalo's point shot was tipped by Patrik Puistola in front. The puck fell to his feet, and he whacked in the loose puck at 7:01. Suomi kept the pressure on for a while, but Canada came back and dominated the rest of the game...but they couldn't get the winning goal.

In the overtime, while there were periods of caution there were also great chances both ways, the most obvious being a Nathan MacKinnon breakaway that he couldn't convert. That set the stage for the shootout, where the Finns proved one shot superior.