Porter Martone and Sam O’Reilly scored second-period goals for Canada as they lead Finland 5-3 after 40 minutes of the bronze medal game at the 2026 World Juniors.
Heikki Ruohonen scored in the second period for Finland.
Martone kept the Canadian momentum from the end of the first period going when he finished off a pretty passing play at the 1:47 mark of the middle frame.
Zayne Parekh set the Canadian record for most points from a defenceman in a single World Juniors tournament with an assist on the Martone marker.
O’Reilly increased the Canadian lead to three with his second of the game at 5:27 on the power play with a deflection right in front of the Finnish goal.
Ruohonen pulled one back for Finland with a snipe on the rush at 14:18 of the period.
Canada carried a 3-2 lead into the second period after the teams traded goals back and forth in an offensive opening 20 minutes.
O’Reilly wasted no time getting the scoring underway as he found the net just 1:10 after the opening puck drop to give Canada the lead with his first of the contest.
Arttu Valila struck back for Finland before Braeden Cootes found some space in front and snapped a puck home to restore the Canadian lead.
Julius Miettinen helped Finland even the score a second time when he found the net on the first power play of the game to make the score 2-2.
Parekh then scored his sixth goal of the tournament, which saw him tie the Canadian record for points from a defenceman, to give Canada their one-goal lead as they headed to the first intermission.
Canada is aiming to capture the bronze and avoid leaving the World Juniors without a medal for the third consecutive tournament.
Canada’s shot at gold ended at the hands of Czechia thanks to a 6-4 loss in the semi-finals.
Finland dropped their semi-final matchup 4-3 to Sweden in a shootout.
Canada defeated Finland 7-4 when the teams met on Boxing Day in the first game of the preliminary round for both teams.
