RED DEER, Alta. – Canada’s men’s under-18 team defeated Finland 4-1 to advance to the Hlinka Gretzky Cup final Friday night.
Ethan Gauthier scored the opening goal in the first period, his tournament-leading fifth of the competition.
Calum Ritchie added another for his second in the past two games. Matthew Wood and Denver Barkey scored 19 seconds apart around the halfway mark of the final period to put the game out of reach.
Finland got on the board with only 18 seconds remaining, courtesy of Arttu Alasiurua.
Scott Ratzlaff made 23 saves, conceding his first goal of the tournament in three appearances for the undefeated Canadian team.
In the other semifinal, Sweden defeated Czechia 6-2 to set up another showdown against the Canadian squad. Sweden lost 3-0 to Canada in the final game of the preliminary round on Wednesday.
Canada will seek its first gold medal since 2018 when the two sides meet Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2022
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