Nathan MacKinnon scores game-winning goal for Canada with 35 seconds remaining

Marc-Olivier Cook
Nathan MacKinnon scores game-winning goal for Canada with 35 seconds remaining
Credit: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Canada had to play without its captain, Sidney Crosby, against Finland today in its semifinal game.

How did it go?

Let's take a look…

It was a rough start for the Maple Leafs. Despite the Canadians playing well in the first period, Finland opened the scoring with a goal by Mikko Rantanen at the end of the period.

One thing should be noted here: Sam Bennett took two unnecessary penalties in the first period. And it was the second one in particular that proved to be costly…

Canada really dominated the second period. They had 14 shots on goal, while Finland finished the period with a meager three shots on goal.

But…

But the Finns were still able to score the second goal of the game. Erik Haula broke away on a power play and beat Jordan Binnington with a nice backhand deke:

At least Canada was able to respond.

On a power play, Sam Reinhart found the back of the net after deflecting a shot from Cale Makar from the point. The goal felt good… because we thought Canada was back in the game.

In the third period, you could feel the pressure on the Finns.

The club was playing to win, so it decided to play very tightly in its zone, with the Canadians having most of the possession. We were waiting for a goal for Canada… and Seah Theodore stepped up to tie the game!

The last few minutes of the game were absolutely CRAZY.

And… what had to happen happened: Nathan MacKinnon scored with 35 seconds left to give Canada the lead. Finland challenged the goal, thinking it was offside, but no:

Canada held on and ultimately won 3-2 against Finland.

On Sunday, the Maple Leafs will battle for the gold medal… and we'll be following the United States vs. Slovakia game in the afternoon to see who Canada will face.

It promises to be exciting! And I can't wait to see if Sidney Crosby will be in uniform…


In a nutshell

– Wow!

— He's on another planet right now.

– Awesome!

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