Canada and Finland are battling for the top spot in Group B at the World Juniors, and the sides are even 3-3 through one period in Minnesota.
Canada got two goals from Brady Martin with Zayne Parekh adding the third, while Finland’s goal scorers were Lasse Boelius, Julius Miettinen and Oliver Suvanto.
It was a rough opening period for both goaltenders, as the sides combined for six goals on just 15 shots on goal.
Ethan MacKenzie took Canada’s first penalty of the game when he was whistled for hooking at 12:15. Finland notched a tying goal on a shot from distance by Boelius where George’s glove was whacked by a Finnish forward while attempting to make the save.
Canada called for a challenge, and the goal surprisingly stood, evening the score for a third time and putting Finland straight back on the power play again due to the failed challenge. Canada withstood a furious power-play to keep the score even at 3-3.
Finland took the game’s first penalty at 10:27, when Onni Kalto was whistled for boarding against Canada’s Ben Danford, who was slow to get up after the hit from behind.
Canada’s red-hot power play struck quickly on the ensuing play, as Martin poked the puck into the back of the net just 13 seconds into the man advantage for his second goal of the contest which gave Canada a 3-2 lead.
That goal gave Canada six goals on 11 power-play tries in the preliminary round.
Midway through the frenetic frame, the scoreboard read 2-2 with just four shots on goal for each side, with offence taking the spotlight in the battle.
After Finland evened the score at 1-1, Martin started a give-and-go sequence with Porter Martone that finished with Martin’s shot in the back of the net. That goal gave Canada a 2-1 lead just 32 seconds after Finland tied the score.
But again, as the chaotic first period continued, Finland found another goal not a minute later when Suvanto scored off a rebound to tally the game’s fourth goal in the first six minutes and re-tie the score at 2-2.
Canada jumped on Finland early, with Parekh finding open space down the right side of the ice before ripping a wrist shot glove side past Rimpinen just 1:13 into the game to give Canada the lead.
Not long after Canada scored on its first shot of the game, the Finnish side did the same when Matias Vanhanen found a streaking Miettinen attacking the Canadian net. The Finland captain went top shelf to fool Carter George and make the score 1-1 not five minutes into the game.
Canada entered this game riding a six-game winning streak against Finland at the World Juniors.