Team Canada, in the Olympic final! The North American hockey players turned the score around in the last half

Those who started the first semi-final of the Olympic tournament more confident were the Europeans, demonstrating their ambition to keep the gold medal won 4 years ago, at the Beijing 2022 Olympics, when there was no NHL player on the ice. At Milan-Cortina 2026, after a 12-year hiatus, the stars of the professional ice hockey league were present in almost all teams.

Taking advantage of the shock of missing Canadian captain Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) from the ice, injured in the match against the Czech Republic in the “quarters”, the Finns controlled the first half, scoring through Rantanen, the forward of Dallas Stars, with a decisive pass from Aho (Carolina Hurricanes) in the 16:55 minute.

In the second part of the game, contrary to the course of hostilities and despite the fact that the “Maple Leaf” team was in superiority, the Finns, coached by Antti Pennanen, doubled their advantage with the goal of Erik Haula (Nashville Predators), who received a providential assist from Armmia (Los Angeles Kings), in the 23:26 minute.

It started well for Finland, it ended well for Team Canada

The Canadians trained from the technical bench by Jon Cooper pressed and managed to score in the second half, managing to reduce the difference, 2-1, through Sam Reinhart (Florida Panthers), assisted by Makkar, defender of the Colorado Avalanche. The North Americans' goal came in the 34:20 minute. The second part of the game sent the Canadians to the locker room leading the table, but authoritatively dominating the statistics in terms of shots on goal: 22-11.

The third half started with the confident attack of the Finns, which, however, collided with the attentive defense of the opponents. But then Canada, as if reanimated, launched its siege at the goal of Saros, but did not overcome the defense of the Finns until the middle of the third period.

The fresh breath of the Canadians quelled the tension and restlessness in the Finnish camp, and Shea Theodore (Vegas Golden Knights) equalized, 2-2, with a decisive assist from the same precious Makkar, in the 50:34 minute, under the eyes of the legend Mark Messier, who played for the New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers.

With 2:35 minutes left in the game, a Finnish player was sent to the penalty bench, leaving Team Canada on the powerplay, attacking for two minutes that seemed like an eternity for the European team. In the last seconds of superiority, the Canadian assault resulted in the goal of Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche), assisted by Connor McDavid, writing the end of the story of the first semifinal of the Olympic tournament, although the Finnish technical bench contested the success of the opponents, citing offside.

Finland pulled the goalkeeper for the final 20 seconds of the match but are left with the bitter taste of a narrow 2-3 defeat after a promising Olympic tournament.

Canada will meet the winner of the USA vs. Slovakia in the grand final in Milan, with the second semifinal scheduled for tonight at 10:10 p.m. The Finns will try to win Olympic bronze tomorrow, from 21:40, against the loser of the other semi-final.

USA won the women's Olympic tournament

In the women's Olympic hockey competition, the United States of America won the grand final, defeating their Canadian opponents 2-1 (0-0, 0-1, 1-0, 1-0) after a game that went into extra time. And the girls' bronze medal was also awarded after a balanced game between Switzerland and Sweden that went into overtime and ended with the same score, 2-1 (0–0, 1–1, 0–0, 1–0), in favor of the helvete hockey players.