Team Canada continues their quest to claim gold at the 2026 World Hockey Championship as they take on Finland in the semifinals on Saturday.
Canada is trying to return to the gold-medal game for the first time since 2023 while Finland’s last appearance in the championship match was the year prior.
The Canadians were unbeaten in the round-robin portion of the tournament, going 6-1-0-0, with their only blemish being an overtime victory over Norway.
They then took on the defending champion United States in the quarter-finals, who featured three returning players from last year and Matthew Tkachuk, who helped defeat Canada in the gold-medal game at Milano Cortina 2026.
Captain Macklin Celebrini and forward Dylan Holloway gave Canada a two-goal lead and then Connor Brown and Sidney Crosby added two empty-net goals to give Canada a convincing 4-0 win and advance to the semifinal.
“I liked our start tonight more than what we’ve been doing through the course of the tournament,” forward John Tavares told reporters after the game. “It was a much more consistent 60 minutes. We had some chances, especially in the second period, and could have made it 3-0 or 4-0, but their goalie played well. They had a good push for a bit in the third period, but Jet [Greaves] was great.”
Greaves completely shut down the American attack throughout the game, stopping all 34 shots that came his way. The Columbus Blue Jackets netminder went 26-19-9 in the NHL this season with a 2.60 goals-against average and .908 save percentage.
The 6-foot netminder has won all six of his appearances at the World Hockey Championship and has a 1.33 GAA and .943 save percentage with a shutout.
“I didn’t realize the calmness and the poise, and his ability to read the play,” Tavares said of Greaves. “He makes the saves, but it’s not always conventional, but that’s because we had two or three breakdowns. But he was calm and tonight came up with the big save when we needed it. He was the best player on the ice tonight, for sure.”
Celebrini has led the way offensively for the Canadians at the tournament, registering six goals and 12 points in eight games. The San Jose Sharks superstar is one point behind Switzerland forward Sven Andrighetto for the tournament lead and is one goal behind Latvian forward Rudolfs Balcers.
Crosby has provided secondary support with a goal and 10 points in the tournament while Ryan O’Reilly has five goals and eight points in eight games.
Finland is coming off a 4-1 win over Czechia in their quarter-final on Thursday that saw forwards Sakari Manninen and Lenni Hameenaho each provide a goal and an assist.
The Finns finished the round robin in second place in Group B with a 6-0-0-1 record with their lone loss being a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Switzerland on Tuesday.
They have been led offensively by former Edmonton Oilers draft pick Jesse Puljujarvi who has four goals and nine points in eight games.
Finland also features Florida Panthers captain and back-to-back Stanley Cup winner Aleksandar Barkov, who is playing his first hockey of the 2025-26 hockey calendar.
The three-time Selke Trophy winner missed the entire NHL season this year while recovering from surgery to repair a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee.
Barkov has two goals and nine points in eight games at the World Hockey Championship.
Nashville Predators netminder Justus Annunen has taken the lion’s share of time in the Finnish crease, going 5-0-0-1 with a 1.67 GAA and .923 save percentage. He appeared in 28 games in the NHL this season while backing up starting goalie Juuse Saros, going 10-12-2 with a .907 save percentage and 2.68 GAA.
Switzerland battles Norway in the other semifinal as the Swiss looks to remain perfect in the tournament.
The Swiss reached the semifinal by defeating Sweden 3-1 in their quarter-final matchup on Thursday. They are looking to claim their first gold medal in their nation’s history after finishing second in each of the past two years.
Norway has reached the semifinal for the first time since 1951 and only their second time in the nation’s history when they defeated Latvia 2-0 in Thursday’s quarter-final. They are hoping to win a medal at the World Hockey Championship for the first time in their history.
