Olympics men’s hockey: Canada holds off Finland, 1-0

Canada shuts out Finland, 1-0, to move to the medal round in the Olympics men’s hockey tournament.

Kevin Poulin started the game on the bench for Team Canada. He ended up being the hero in a 1-0 victory over Finland in the Olympics men’s hockey tournament.

Starter Ben Scrivens left the game early in the second period after Finland’s Veli-Matti Savinainen was shoved into home. The trainers took a long look at Scrivens before they ultimately decided to pull him from the game.

Poulin, who started in Canada’s shutout victory over South Korea, entered and was immediately thrown to the fire as Finland went on the power play moments later. Poulin shut the door on the Finland power play and on Finland, making 15 stops in just over 35 minutes.

Maxim Noreau’s third period goal 55 second into the final frame was the only difference on the scoreboard. Eric O’Dell won the draw cleanly off the face-off, right to Noreau. The Canadian defensemen immediately slapped the puck past  Mikko Koskinen and into the back of the net.

Koskinen finished the night with 29 saves. The Finland power play, which had scored eight goals in the previous four games, went 0-3.

The game was a tight checking affair throughout, although things did open up in the second period. Canada outshot Finland 18-10 in that period, but Koskinen stood tall. Canada’s defense took away time and space from Finland all night. Tournament leading scorer Eeli Tolvanen finished with two shots on goal.

Highlights

What’s Next?

Canada will move on to the medal round to meet Germany, which stunned Sweden in its quarterfinal matchup. That game takes place on Thursday morning at 7:10 a.m. ET.

NEXT: Czech Republic sends USA home with shootout victory

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