OLYMPICS: McDavid's two assists help Canada rally past Finland in semifinal

MILANO -- Connor & Canada will go for gold.

Connor McDavid recorded two assists, including the helper on Nathan MacKinnon's game-winner with 35.2 seconds left in regulation, as Team Canada rallied from behind again at Milano Cortina 2026 to secure a spot in Sunday's gold-medal game with a 3-2 comeback win over Team Finland in the semifinals.

The Oilers captain set a new points record (13) at a single Olympics attended by NHL players with a pair of power-play assists on Sam Reinhart's response in the second after Finland scored shorthanded to lead 2-0 before he set up MacKinnon for the winner in the last minute of the third to complete the comeback.

Canada is the first nation at an Olympics attended by NHL players to post back-to-back comeback wins in the medal rounds.

McDavid put in another heroic effort for Canada to help push them through to the gold-medal game and now has two goals and 11 assists in five contests, breaking a tie for the most points in a single tournament with Finnish legends Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu, who each had 11 at Turin 2006.

Finland netminder Juuse Saros made 36 saves in defeat, while Jordan Binnington stopped 15 shots to earn his fourth win of the tournament, backstopping Canada to their second major final in as many years following last year's 4 Nations Face-Off triumph over the United States.

Canada will face either Team USA or Team Slovakia on Sunday in the gold-medal game.

McDavid helped set up Macklin Celebrini in the opening three minutes with a pair of dangerous chances, getting their best early look off No. 97's set-up for his linemate and the tournament's leading scorer in the slot for a one-timer that netminder Juuse Saros absorbed for the first big save of this semifinal.

After establishing early momentum, Canada lost some juice by taking back-to-back penalties to fall behind only two seconds into Sam Bennett's penalty for goaltender interference before the intermission, taking the 1-0 lead on a quick shot from Mikko Rantanen off a clean face-off win by Sebastian Aho.

For the second straight time, Canada was going to have to come from behind to advance -- something that'd never been accomplished during the medal rounds in previous Olympic tournaments attended by NHL players.

Canada had the chance to respond on their first power play after the intermission, but the opportunity backfired when the puck bounced favourably for Erik Haula for a shorthanded breakaway that he backhanded past Jordan Binnington to put Finland ahead 2-0 with 3:26 gone in the middle frame.

There's nobody who's catching Connor McDavid in points at this year's Olympics, and the Oilers captain was orchestrating another one of those legacy games in Red & White when he added another assist to his tally at the tournament less than a minute later to get Canada back into the contest.

Just 54 seconds after Canada fell behind byto the Finns a pair of goals, McDavid helped deliver a quick response for the Canadians by making it 2-1 with his 10th assist of the tournament, picking up his record-setting helper when Sam Reinhart deflected home Cale Makar's shot at 15:40 of the second period.

With that, McDavid had set a new points record at an Olympics featuring NHL players with his 12th point (2G, 10A).

Canada outshot Finland 14-3 in the middle frame and needed to keep up that pressure heading into the final 20 minutes, where their resolve in the face of adversity would be tested for the second straight time in the medal rounds to keep their chance at competing for gold at Milano Cortina 2026 alive.

With Canada pouring on the pressure, the Red & White found their deserved equalizer on Shea Theodore's shot that found the top corner on a resilient Juuse Saros, as the Finns failed to hold off their dynamic offence from making it 2-2 with 9:26 remaining in regulation.

Binnington made a clutch blocker save on Aho with seven minutes left that marked Finland's best chance to steal back the lead before they were back on the defensive, only to be tagged with an untimely penalty off a high stick from Niko Mikkola that sent Canada to the man advantage with 2:35 remaining.

Canada's depth pushed it through against Czechia in the quarterfinals, but its best players came up clutch when they needed it most in the semifinal, and McDavid was once again involved on the game-winning goal for Nathan MacKinnon that secured Canada's comeback and a place in the gold-medal game.

Just as Mikkola was about to step out of the box, McDavid found MacKinnon with a perfect cross-ice pass for a one-timer from the left circle that he snuck short side to give Canada the 3-2 advantage with only 35.2 seconds left in regulation despite Saros holding down the crease for Finland as long as he could.

An offside challenge by the Finns on the zone entry a minute earlier was too close for comfort for the Canadians, but the call on the ice was upheld by the slightest of margins before Canada turned away Finland's last rush and a defensive-zone faceoff to push through the adversity to Sunday's final.