Canada leads Finland after first period in first-place showdown
Published
It's been a good start for Team Canada as they lead Finland 3-1 after 20 minutes in their World Junior showdown Monday night in Edmonton.
Finland had a number of scoring chances early but were unable to convert. On one of Canada's first forrays into the offensive zone, Olen Zellweger threw a shot on net and Brennan Othmann re-directed it past Finnish goalkeeper Leevi Merilainen. The play prompted a review but Othmann's marker would stand. It was his second goal of the tournament and sixth point.
A few minutes later with Canada on the power play, Ridly Greig rushed the net and was turned away but Tyson Foerster was right there to put home the rebound and double Canada's lead.
The Canadians got their third of the night on a wrist shot more than 80 seconds into a shift from Connor Bedard, the projected No. 1 overall selection in the 2023 NHL Draft. The goal was his third of the tournament.
With 56 seconds remaining in the period, Matias Rajaniemi beat Dylan Garland to get Finland on the board and take some momentum heading into the break.
The winner of Monday's matchup will sit first in Group A.
Canada opened the tournament with a 5-2 victory over Latvia and followed that up with an 11-1 drubbing of Slovakia a day later. Canada faced off against Czechia over the weekend and trailed 1-0 in the first peroid but rallied for five consecutive goals en route to a 5-1 victory.
Finland opened with a 6-1 win over Latvia, defeated Czechia 4-3 in a shootout and dispatched of Slovakia 9-3 on Sunday.
The 2022 World Juniors originally began in late December in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta., but were postponed due to multiple positive COVID-19 cases.