Tom Wilson and Logan Thompson are guaranteed Olympic medals after Team Canada’s dramatic come-from-behind victory over Finland on Friday. All that remains to be determined is which medal they’ll be bringing back to DC.
The Canadians went down 2-0 to the Finns early in the second period but then got three unanswered goals from Sam Reinhart, Shea Theodore, and Nathan MacKinnon to move on to the 2026 gold-medal game. Wilson picked up the secondary assist on Theodore’s game-tying tally, united on a new line with Florida Panthers duo Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand.
Finland comes up empty-handed despite a valiant effort from goaltender Juuse Saros, who made 36 saves in the loss. The Finns got a power-play goal from Mikko Rantanen and a shorthanded goal from Erik Haula, but couldn’t pierce the Canadian defense again to secure the upset.
Wilson’s helping hand on Theodore’s goal came with 9:26 remaining in regulation. The 31-year-old winger fired a wrist shot toward the net that clanged off traffic in front out to defenseman Travis Sanheim. The Philadelphia Flyers’ rearguard then moved the puck to his defense partner, Theodore, who rifled a one-timer past Saros.
Brad Marchand created commotion in front of the net, skating into the crease and getting shoved on top of Saros right before Theodore’s blast. The Finns protested, hoping for a goaltender interference call, but officials let the goal stand.
MacKinnon’s game-winning goal came just after the Colorado Avalanche superstar had drawn a dubious high-sticking penalty on defenseman Niko Mikkola. MacKinnon was lightly grazed by Mikkola’s stick but threw his head back enough to earn the call.
The Finns had almost killed off the entire man advantage before the puck was cycled out to Connor McDavid, who found MacKinnon on the left flank for a one-timer. The puck squeezed between Saros’s right pad and the post to give the Canadians a 3-2 lead with just 35.2 seconds on the clock.
“Clutch,” Macklin Celebrini told TSN’s Mark Masters postgame. “That goal, we needed [it] so bad. We had a couple looks there and count on your big dogs and one of the best players in the world to bury it.”
Finland’s coaching staff challenged the play for offside on the power-play zone entry, but the linesmen went to a review and cleared the goal.
Before Friday’s contest, Canada had never won an Olympic game after being down two goals. They limited Finland to just nine total shots on goal in the final two periods after allowing eight shots in the first frame.
Wilson played 12:47 of total ice time in the win, notching his assist, a plus-1 rating, and one shot on goal. The Washington Capitals alternate captain started the game back on the team’s top line with McDavid and Macklin Celebrini, but eventually found a home for most of the game with Bennett and Marchand.
“We didn’t have to say much to each other,” Wilson told Masters. “We weren’t guessing about what the other guy was going to do. It was to go out there and have controlled chaos and make life difficult and push them out of the game.”
The Canadians advance to the gold-medal game, where they will play the winner of the other semifinal matchup between Team USA and Slovakia.
