MacKinnon scores late, Canada tops Finland to advance to gold medal game

MILAN -- Team Canada survived its second straight scare, rallying to defeat Finland 3-2 at Santaguilia Arena on Friday to advance to the gold medal game of the men's hockey tournament at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

Nathan MacKinnon scored a power-play goal with 36 seconds remaining on a saucer pass from Connor McDavid to complete the three-goal rally.

Finland unsuccessfully challenged the goal for offside.

Canada, which has won gold at each of the past two Olympics involving NHL players, will face the winner of the other semifinal between Team USA and Team Slovakia, on Sunday (8:10 a.m. ET; Peacock, NBC, ICI Tele, CBC Gem, CBC, SN [JIP], TSN [JIP], RDS2).

The top-seeded Canadians rallied for a 4-3 win against Team Czechia in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. They are first team to have consecutive comeback wins in the playoffs of an Olympics featuring NHL participation to advance to the gold medal game.

GAMECENTER SUMMARY: Finland-Canada

Sam Reinhart and Shea Theodore scored for Canada, and Jordan Binnington made 15 saves.

McDavid, who was serving as captain, had two assists. Canada captain Sidney Crosby did not play because of a lower-body injury sustained in the win against Czechia.

Sebastian Aho and Erik Haula scored for Finland, the No. 4 seed, which will play for bronze here Saturday (2:40 p.m. ET; Peacock, USA, ICI Tele, CBC Gem, CBC [JIP]). Juuse Saros made 36 saves.

Theodore tied the game 2-2 at 10:34 of the third with a rising slapper through traffic.

Reinhart made it 2-1 with a power-play goal at 14:20 of the second. Defenseman Cale Makar walked the blue line before flicking a wrist shot into traffic. Reinhart deflected it with his stick, causing the puck to change direction and skirt past Saros.

WATCH: Men's Hockey Highlights from the Olympic Winter Games

McDavid got the secondary assist on the goal for his 12th point (two goals, 10 assists), to set the record for most points in a single Olympics involving NHL players, before adding an assist on the game-winning goal.

After not trailing in any Olympic game involving NHL players since the preliminary round of 2010, Canada fell behind for the second time in as many games Friday.

Rantanen gave Finland a 1-0 lead at 16:55 of the first with a one-timer off a faceoff win by Aho, who drew the puck to Rantanen. The goal came three seconds after Sam Bennett took a penalty for goalie interference.

Haula made it 2-0 at 3:26 of the second period with a short-handed goal. He corralled a clearing attempt from Joel Armia, who had stopped the zone entry by Canada, and went with a rising backhander.