The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 have begun. The men’s hockey tournament, the first with NHL players since the 2014 Sochi Olympics, has reached the semifinals and will conclude with the gold medal game Sunday.
Here is a look at the games Friday:
(1) Team Canada vs. (4) Team Finland (10:40 a.m. ET; Peacock, USA, ICI Tele, CBC Gem, RDS2, CBC)
How they got here
Canada (3-1-0-0, first in Group A): Defeated Team Czechia 5-0, defeated Team Switzerland 5-1, defeated Team France 10-2, defeated Team Czechia 4-3 (OT).
Finland (2-1-1-0, second in Group B): Lost to Team Slovakia 4-1, defeated Team Sweden 4-1, defeated Team Italy 11-0, defeated Team Switzerland 3-2 (OT).
Player to watch
Canada: Macklin Celebrini leads the tournament with five goals after he had a goal and two assists against Czechia on Wednesday. He became the fourth player to score a goal in four straight Olympic games involving NHL players (Marian Hossa, Slovakia, and Teemu Selanne, Finland, in 2006; Mats Sundin, Sweden, in 2002). The 19-year-old forward has 81 points (28 goals, 53 assists) in 55 games with the San Jose Sharks.
Finland: Juuse Saros has a 1.49 goals-against average and .938 save percentage and has stopped 91 of 97 shots. He is 21-17-5 in 44 games (44 starts) with the Nashville Predators with a 3.20 GAA and .892 save percentage.
Will win if
Canada: If its star-laden lineup scores early and establishes its dominance to sap the confidence Finland will have entering the game after its dramatic 3-2 overtime win against Switzerland on Wednesday and Jordan Binnington continues to make game-deciding saves like his stop on Czechia’s Martin Necas on a breakaway with the game tied 3-3 late in the third period Wednesday.
Finland: Saros continues his strong performance, and the Finns play a complete game with the urgency that it showed in the third period to overcome a two-goal deficit against Switzerland to win in overtime. Team Finland needs to score early to have a chance against the Canadians.
EDGE Stats to watch
Canada has the top two players in the entire NHL in terms of both midrange goals (Nathan MacKinnon of Colorado Avalanche is first with 16; Celebrini is second with 15) and midrange shots on goal (MacKinnon is first with 110; Celebrini is second with 101) this season.
The skinny
Team Canada is loaded offensively and Binnington has positively answered the pre-Olympics questions about its goaltending, but the game isn’t a slam dunk. Finland has a chance, but it will need more offense from its stars and for Saros to play his best game of the tournament if it hopes to reach the gold medal game.
