The first day of the 2025 World Junior Hockey Championship ended with a meeting between Canada and Finland, two teams who are no stranger to winning gold at the tournament, but entering this year’s event having left Gothenburg, Sweden empty-handed last year. A hot start for each team would help give them the easiest path through the playoff round, so there was already a lot of stake in the opening match.
Canada was the team most eager to get off to a good start, firing the first five shots of the contest in the opening few minutes. Surviving the early onslaught form the team playing in front of a home crowd, the Finns slowly started to chip away at the shot advantage as the game settled in.
Just as Tanner Howe was about to get his stick on the puck for Canada’s 12th shot and what was looking like a goal, Julius Miettinen got his stick in Howe’s hand, getting a call, but potentially saving his team from going down 0-1. Good stick from Finland to close off the lane — defensive play is always a hallmark of the Finnish teams — prevented Canada from getting anything dangerous on the man advantage.
Finland just about did enough to get out of the first period in a 0-0 score, but in the final minute, after being stuck on the ice for an extended shift, 2026 NHL Draft-eligible forward Gavin McKenna pounced on his own rebound at the top of the crease, pulled the puck to the side of the blue paint to change the angle, and put the home team on top.
The only good news from the opening 20 minutes for Finland was that Howe took a penalty in the dying seconds, so they had a chance to even things up early in the second period on the power play. They were unable to make an impression with the extra player as Canadiens held its lead with Howe freed from the box.
As the game progressed it was clear that there was a wide disparity between the skating speed of each team. Finland tried to launch counter-attacks whenever they gained possessions, but were always closed on by much faster Canadian backcheckers. In the offensive zone, Canada could just get to every loose puck a split second faster to keep the offence rolling.
That gap in pace led to a second Canada goal with Calum Ritchie got into a passing lane on a breakout attempt and picked the puck off. He set up Easton Cowan in the right circle, and the Toronto Maple Leafs prospect fired home his shot.
Unable to make much of an impression at five-on-five, Finland did itself no favours when Arttu Tuhkala went off for a boarding minor on Canada’s Cole Beaudoin. They did start off the penalty kill with their best chance of the game, however, as Heikki Ruohonen went in alone on a short-handed rush that Carter George stopped.
Perhaps getting a bit bored with the play consistently being in Finland’s end, he attempted a pass up the ice and put the puck right on the stick of an opponent. For a rare time in the opening 40 minutes, the Finns had some space to work with, and George was forced to make a couple of saves to prevent his gaffe from ending up in his net.
The middle frame ended with a flurry of chances or Canada, which once again stole the puck directly off of Finnish sticks to create shots. Finland was probably lucky to head to the intermission down just two goals, and thankful that they wouldn’t have a long change in the final 20 minutes.
Needing something to change, Finland started the third period much better than the previous two, launching a couple of shots in the opening minutes. That was the effort level they would need to get back into the contest, perhaps hoping Canada would sit back on their lead and allow a few openings.
Instead, Canada simply ramped back up to the level they’d shown in the opening 40 minutes, keeping the puck in Finland’s zone with several more shots on goal, running the advantage to 34-12 as the first commercial break approached.
Finland showed more urgency on a power play in the middle of the period, trying to get a goal to get back in it. Canada didn’t have nearly the same composure as the Finns on the penalty kill, leading to four dangerous shots, but George stopped them all.
The Finns got what they were hoping for as the period went on: Canada trying to defend their lead in their own zone rather than maintaining the relentless pressure that made it a one-sided game in the opening two frames. Finland got eight straight shots on net, but none of them found the back of it.
Lack of finish came back to bite the Finns in the final minutes. Caden Price revered direction on he blue line then blew past his man at the point to set up Luca Pinelli on the opposite side of the ice. Pinelli scored Canada’s third goal of the game to ease a lot of the pressure Canada had been under.
Finland pulled goaltender Petteri Rimpinen with three minutes to go trying to make a game of it, but the seconds drained off the clock before they could find a goal, despite a flurry of shots. Schaefer was the only player able to score at the end of the game, his empty-netter allowing Canada to come out of the opening game with a 4-0 win.
There’s little time for the Finns to recover from this game as they play again on Friday at 3:30 ET. Canada is also back in action, playing Latvia in the final game of the second day.
