2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics
Semifinal 1: Canada vs. Finland
How to watch
Start time: 10:40 AM EDT / 4:40 PM CET
In Canada: CBC (English) ICI Télé, RDS2 (French)
Streaming: CBC Gem, RDS
Nick Suzuki hit the post with an open net on a play that would have given Canada a late lead. When Czechia look a 3-2 edge instead with under eight minutes to play in the game, that moment looked set to be replayed as the missed opportunity as Canada got upset in the quarters. Instead, Suzuki rewrote the stories for both himself and his nation with a solo effort to set up and then score the tying goal with 3:27 left on the clock. In overtime, the tale was completed by another individual effort from Mitch Marner to get through three defenders and score the winning goal.
Finland’s comeback story was even more impressive. Down two goals since the 15:26 mark of the opening period, they finally got on the board with just over six minutes to play against Switzerland, and Miro Heiskanen tied the game with just over a minute to play. It also took the Finns just under three-and-a-half minutes of overtime play to complete their comeback, with Artturi Lehkonen scoring the final goal.
Canada enters this game potentially without the player who has scored its most clutch goal on the men’s side in recent Olympic history, as Sidney Crosby is dealing with a leg injury. There is also concern about Nathan MacKinnon, who will probably play but is dealing with a couple of ailments of its own. Some of the depth players, like Suzuki, have been thrust into bigger roles, although everyone on the team is used to those deployments with their NHL teams. Olympic best-on-best competition is a very different level of play, however, so Finland will have a bit of an opening with the Nova Scotian stars at least hobbled for this semifinal matchup.
