Jaakko Wycisk and Benjamin Veitch each had four-point games to lead Canada to a 6-3 victory over Finland in the semifinals at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup on Friday night.
Wycisk scored the game-winning goal for Canada and had three assists while Veitch had two goals and two assists as they move on to face the United States for the gold medal on Saturday.
Finland opened the scoring on the power play just over five minutes into the semifinal as Olli Kylmala capitalized with Liam Pue in the box for tripping.
Canadian captain Landon DuPont got his team on the board with 1:39 remaining in the opening frame as he blasted a shot from the top of the circle past Finnish goaltender Samuel Heikkinen.
The Finns responded early in the second period as Max Poikela scored to make things 2-1.
Forward Benjamin Veitch would tie the game 2-2 for Canada midway through the period as his shot from the right circle beat Heikkinen over the blocker.
Defenceman Malik L’Italien gave Canada its first lead of the hockey game early in the third period as he beat Heikkinen with a shot from the point after some chaos in front of the Finnish net.
It was reviewed at length for offside before it was ruled a good goal for the 3-2 lead.
After Wycisk gave Canada a two-goal lead, Finland got one back with Kylmala netting his second of the contest.
Veitch iced the game 5-3 with an empty-net goal while Kayden Stroeder added a second empty-netter at the buzzer for Canada’s sixth marker.
The Americans are the reigning champions at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup after capturing gold in 2025 while Canada earned bronze.
