The rematch is set!
Canada will meet the USA after it defeated Finland, 5-3, in its final game of the round-robin round of the 4 Nations Face-off on Monday afternoon at the TD Garden.
Despite a 4-0 lead with seven minutes to go in regulation, Finland’s late surge added three goals within five minutes. Two of those were netted by Mikael Granlund 23 seconds apart with less than a minute and a half in the game, with the extra attacker, to give Finland a shot at tying the game.
“They made a really good push, but at the end of the day, we did the job and really looking forward to the next one,” Canada forward Brad Marchand said.
Canada sent a message early as the team led 3-0 after the first period.
Two quick goals just 46 seconds apart from Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon put Canada in the driver’s seat on their first two shots of the game, before the five-minute mark.
Brayden Point added the third tally of the period, capitalizing on a rebound.
Canada extended its lead as Sidney Crosby connected with MacKinnon to make it 4-0 early in the second period which resulted in Finland backup goaltender Juuse Saros subbing in for starter Kevin Lankinen.
“Those guys are big game players, it’s what they do,” Brad Marchand said postgame about MacKinnon, McDavid and Crosby’s performance in the win. “They’re some of the best that will ever play this game, and they are built to win.”
Here are the game’s highlights:
First period:
Connor McDavid opened the scoring with a wrist shot after circling the top of the left-wing circle to beat Kevin Lankinen’s glove at 4:13 of the first period. 1-0 Canada.
Nathan MacKinnon powered past Finland’s defense and heading straight to the net to give Canada its second goal in 46 seconds at 4:59 of the first period. 2-0 Canada.
Brayden Point picks up Travis Sanheim’s rebound out front to put a backhand past Lankinen 3-0 Canada at 13:02 of the first period. 3-0 Canada.
Second period:
Sidney Crosby fed a pass to MacKinnon for a quick snap shot past Lankinen as Canada continued its dominance at 5:03 of the second period. Juuse Saros subbed in for Lankinen after the goal. 4-0 Canada.
Third period:
Esa Lindell put Finland on the board with a top-shelf shot over Jordan Binnington’s blocker at 13:19 of the third period. 4-1 game.
Patrik Laine sent a pass to Mikael Granlund in the slot with the extra attacker where he put a one-timer past Binnington at 18:20 of the third period.
With the extra attacker again, Aleksander Barkov found Granlund in the slot for his second of the game seconds later at 18:43 of the third period. 4-3 game.
But then Crosby regained a two-goal lead for Canada with an empty-net goal at 19:04 of the third period. Final score: 5-3 Canada.