CALGARY – After both clubs suffered heartbreaking losses in semifinal action, Canada and Finland still have the opportunity to take home a prize from the World Junior Championship -- a bronze medal.
Canada will look to rebound from a crushing 6-5 loss at the hands of the Russians on Tuesday. Falling behind 6-1 with 11 minutes remaining in the game, Canada battled back to within one before Ryan Strome hit the goal post in the dying minutes of the contest.
On the other side, Finland took a 2-0 lead against Sweden into the third period but lost 3-2 in a shootout.
Both teams will have to put disappointment aside to ensure they won’t be leaving the World Juniors empty-handed.
The game marks the second time in the tournament the two teams have met. Canada won the initial matchup between the two countries by a score of 8-1 in the tournament’s opening game on Boxing Day.
Canada
Brett Connolly – Freddie Hamilton – Quinton Howden
Jaden Schwartz – Ryan Strome – Brendan Gallagher
Jonathan Huberdeau – Mark Scheifele – Mark Stone
Michael Bournival – Tanner Pearson
Brandon Gormley – Dougie Hamilton
Mark Pysyk – Ryan Murray
Jamie Oleksiak – Nathan Beaulieu
Mark Visentin
Scott Wedgewood
Finland
Teemu Pulkkinen – Mikael Granlund – Markus Granlund
Joel Armia – Joonas Donskoi – Miikka Salomaki
Alexander Ruuttu – Aleksander Barkov – Miro Aaltonen
Markus Hannikainen – Mikael Kuronen – Roope Hamalainen
Otto Paajanen
Konsta Makinen – Jani Hakanpaa
Miro Hovinen – Ville Pokka
Simo-Pekka Riikola – Rasmus Ristolainen
Sami Aittokallio
Christopher Gibson