Connor McDavid Dominates As Canada Avoids Disaster

Nobody said it would be easy.

Connor McDavid said Canada's game against Finland on Monday afternoon would be like a game seven, and he was right. McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon dominated early, while Sidney Crosby saved Canada from a disastrous blown lead with his own heroics. Canada managed to hold on for a 5-3 win and punched their ticket to the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game on Thursday.

Things started about as well as possible for Canada, as McDavid and MacKinnon scored just 46 seconds apart to give them a 2-0 lead not five minutes into the game. When Brayden Point added a third later in the first and MacKinnon scored his second of the game early in the middle period, it seemed like the rout was on.

But the game settled down from there, as the always-dangerous Finns outshot Canada 12-8 in the second period. Then, late in the third period, disaster struck:

First, Esa Lindell broke up Jordan Binnington's shutout bid to make it 4-1 with just under seven minutes left. Then, with the net empty, Finnish national team veteran Mikael Granlund scored two goals in 23 seconds to all of a sudden make it a one-goal game. Canada was in deep trouble, at risk of blowing a 4-0 lead in a must-win game.

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So thank goodness for Sidney Crosby. Canada's captain simply refused to lose this game, blowing up Granlund at center ice with a massive hit before shovelling the loose puck into the empty Finnish net for the 5-3 dagger. Finland's comeback thus extinguished, Canada held out for the final minute to clinch the win.

Blown lead aside, Canada's best players were its best players on Monday. McDavid picked up a goal and an assist, MacKinnon scored twice, and Crosby picked up another assist and his first goal to give him the tournament lead in points (5).

This sets up a rematch between Canada and the United States in the championship game on Thursday. Canada's had trouble holding onto leads despite their star power, while the U.S. has breezed through the round-robin and only has a now-meaningless game against Sweden on Monday night before the final.

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After the fireworks of Saturday's game between Canada and the U.S., Thursday's final will be the most anticipated men's hockey game in over a decade, maybe since the 2010 Olympic gold medal game between these two countries.

Canadians can only hope for the same outcome in Boston on Thursday. Canada and the United States will play for the 4 Nations Face-Off championship at 6 p.m. MT on Thursday night, on Sportsnet.

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