‘Ottawa’ Canada Shuts Out Finland to win Second Consecutive Gold at Worlds
Canada won the gold. But in the end, it was Finnish-style hockey that got the job done.
It was in a round robin game against Finland last week when Canada’s top guns had been silenced in a 4-0 shutout loss. In Saturday’s world championship final, Canada turned the tables in a 2-0 shutout win for its second consecutive gold.
It was a boring game. And that was how Canada wanted it. The team had rolled through the tournament by relying on its potent offence. But the Canadians knew from experience that they could not play that style and expect to win against a Finland team that sat back and lulled its opponents into making mistakes.
For Canada, this was disciplined hockey at its best — although it required a highlight-reel goal from Connor McDavid to get things started.
Speeding up the ice, McDavid played give-and-go with Matt Duchene before cutting to the front of the net and flicking a shot under the cross bar for his first goal of the tournament.