Canada vs. Finland results: GOLD! Nick Paul's golden goal leads Canadians to 2021 Men's World Championship title

Jackie Spiegel

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Canada vs. Finland results: GOLD! Nick Paul's golden goal leads Canadians to 2021 Men's World Championship title image

No one expected this moment to happen. Not when the tournament began with three straight losses, including a shutout by the host Latvians. Not when at least a point was needed in the last preliminary round game and then the team had to scoreboard-watch. But it kept chugging along, and in the end, thanks to — familiar term alert — a golden goal, Canada is the winner of the 2021 IIHF Men's World Championship.

Nick Paul took a return pass from Connor Brown in overtime (3-on-3 on international ice, by the way) and buried the puck to give Canada a 3-2 win over Finland and the country's first gold medal since 2016. 

"We were getting better as the games went on and we knew we had the right guys in the room," Paul said postgame to TSN's Linz Hamilton. "We just didn't have the bounces in the beginning of the tournament. Once those bounces started going our way it put some wind in our sails and we just kept building every single game."

Of course, just as how the rest of the two weeks went, Canada did not make it easy on itself. It was trailing 1-0 in the second period when Maxime Comtois took a rebound off his body, off his skate and off the post before banging it home for a power-play goal. Then, with under eight minutes left in the final frame of regulation, on the power play and needing an equalizer, it was Comtois with his back turned feeding Adam Henrique with a between-the-legs pass. The captain, who had a goal disallowed earlier, would not be denied again.

And then, it was the dramatic finish as top tournament points-guy Brown, with his third assist of the game, fed his Senators teammate Paul to seal the deal in the extra session.

"It's unbelievable, special to lead this group all the way to gold," Henrique told Hamilton. "I'm sure a lot of people counted us out early on in the tournament but we kept believing in ourselves and in that locker room. We stuck with it right to the end and made it interesting all the way. It was a heck of a tournament and [there's] not going to be a lot of sleep tonight."

The win was probably extra special for the likes of Henrique and Comtois. Both lost to Finland in previous tournaments; Henrique and Troy Stecher were on the Canadian squad that lost in the gold-medal game of the 2019 worlds, and Comtois, Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Michael DiPietro lost in the quarterfinals of the 2019 world juniors, also in OT. Winning gold is also a little bit of redemption for Braden Schneider, Cole Perfetti and then-head coach, now assistant coach, Andre Tourigny, who lost in the gold-medal game just a few short months ago at the world juniors. 

Things started to turn around for the Canadians when Andrew Mangiapane, fresh off a career year in Calgary, showed up. The tournament MVP settled the Canadian offense and potted seven goals, 11 points and game-winners in the quarterfinals and semifinals to push this group forward.

But, while there's no doubt that Mangiapane juiced up the offense, Darcy Kuemper was also masterful between the pipes. The Coyotes netminder turned aside 29 of the 31 shots he faced Sunday, including a number of high-danger chances. Also impressive was the projected No. 1 pick in July's NHL Draft, Owen Power. The 18-year-old showed a lot of poise patrolling Canada's blue line and was even on the ice with time winding down in the third period.

NHL MOCK DRAFT 2021: Sabres take Owen Power at No. 1 in wide-open draft

Canada now has 27 golds at the men's world championship, tying Russia/the Soviet Union for the most in tournament history. It also marks the nation's second in 2021. Canada won gold at the U18 worlds in May. 

Sporting News had all the action as Canada won gold against Finland at the 2021 IIHF Men's World Championship (all times Eastern):

Canada vs. Finland score, highlights from 2021 gold-medal game

Overtime: Canada 3, Finland 2

3:51 p.m. — GOAL! Off a lost faceoff, Canada breaks out 2-on-1, and on a give-and-go below the hashmarks it's Nick Paul with the golden goal. Canada wins 3-2.

3:50 p.m. — Good chance by Liam Foudy.

3:46 p.m. — Walker is back.

3:44 p.m. — Anton Lundell tries to go between the legs but can't connect and then on the other end Mangiapane does but Olkinuora makes the stop.

3:44 p.m. — Overtime begins. Man, 3-on-3 on international ice is surreal.

3:43 p.m. — OK, so Sean Walker still has a few seconds on his 10-minute misconduct.

Third period: Canada 2, Finland 2

3:28 p.m. — Going to overtime. Oh, and it's 3-on-3 until someone scores. Should be quite a finish.

3:27 p.m. — 34 seconds left and the faceoff is deep in the Finland zone after Henrique is bumped into the net and it comes off its moorings.

3:25 p.m. — 102 seconds left.

3:23 p.m. — Mangiapane's centering pass goes through the legs of Henrique.

3:16 p.m. — PP GOAL. Comtois with a sweet between-the-legs pass to Henrique as he crashes the net. Game tied 2-2.

3:14 p.m. — Canada gets a power play. Big moment here.

3:13 p.m. — Kuemper makes a stop on a 2-on-1.

3:12 p.m. — Canada kills off the penalty and there is just over nine minutes left.

3:11 p.m. — Despite being shorthanded it seems like Canada has picked up the pace a little and at the whistle, Stecher lays down the big check.

3:10 p.m. — Good scoring chance by Nick Paul while shorthanded.

3:09 p.m. — Sean Walker gets called for boarding and that's a 2 and 10. Canada's top defenseman in terms of ice time will be gone until about the last 30 seconds.

3:03 p.m. — GOAL. Defenseman Petteri Lindbohm snapshot from the top of the left circle gets past the glove of Kuemper as Jere Sallinen cuts in front. Finland leads 2-1.

3:02 p.m. — Woah. Dump-in goes a little awry and Olkinuora misplays it. Brandon Pirri almost gave Canada the lead.

2:57 p.m. — Mangiapane actually got a tip on Troy Stecher's shot that went just wide so it looks like he's turning it up already.

2:56 p.m. — Not much from Andrew Mangiapane in this one thus far but he does like to score game-winners.

2:55 p.m. — Go time. The third period has begun. Who will win gold?

Second period: Canada 1, Finland 1

2:40 p.m. — That's a wrap on the middle frame. Finland put some pressure on in the last minute but it'll go the final period all knotted up.

2:35 p.m. — Yep. No goal. He also had a goal disallowed against the Americans.

2:32 p.m. — GOAL. Adam Henrique buries the rebound but the Finns are challenging it for offside. Owen Power may have been offside and on the replay, his back leg is up in the air and not on the ice. Unlike the NHL, the foot has to be on the ice and not up in the air. It'll change next year.

2:27 p.m. — No scoring for Finland although they did have a good chance off the rush. Kuemper made a grade-A stop on the shot from the slot.

2:25 p.m. — Canada gets a chance while shorthanded but they get caught deep and at one point it's a 4-on-2. Finland, however, doesn't get much.

2:23 p.m. — Canada back to the penalty kill as Owen Power is called for high-sticking.

2:23 p.m. — Each team getting a good chance or two but not getting it past these two netminders.

2:19 p.m. — Finland putting pressure on and Kuemper made a good stop on a shot from the left circle.

2:11 p.m. — PP GOAL. Maxime Comtois says not again. First Connor Brown's shot rings off the pipe but the puck then goes off Comtois' body. He then takes it off the skate, hits the post again and then buries it. Game tied 1-1.

2:10 p.m. — Now a 5-on-4.

2:09 p.m. — Canada gets a short 5-on-3 thanks to a trip off the faceoff. 

2:08 p.m. — Another two Canadian chances but can't get anything past Jussi Olkinuora.

2:08 p.m. — Maxime Comtois comes oh-so-close as the bouncing puck comes to him and he hits the post on an open net. (Not as bad or as open of a net as David Pastrnak's post last night, by the way.)

2:06 p.m. — Canada gets a power play as Gabe Vilardi is hooked. The Canadians power play is 5-for-30 in the tournament.

2:05 p.m. — Middle frame is a go.

First period: Finland 1, Canada 0

1:49 p.m. — First period ends. 

1:48 p.m. — Canada's offense does not seem to be clicking in this one just yet. A number of passes that are just slightly off.

1:44 p.m. — Anttila and Bunting again jawing. Fun fact: Anttila was drafted by the Blackhawks back in 2004. 

1:43 p.m. — Penalty expires.

1:42 p.m. — Another Henrique-Foudy 2-on-1 while shorthanded and another one where they can't connect.

1:38 p.m. — Some pushing and shoving after the whistle when Marko Anttila bumped some guys well after the whistle. Canada goes on the penalty kill as Michael Bunting is called for charging. Finland's goal came one second after their last power play ended.

1:36 p.m. — Adam Henrique and Troy Stecher were on the 2019 silver-medal squad.

1:34 p.m. — Kuemper makes a stop on a streaking Olli Maatta.

1:29 p.m. — GOAL. As the penalty was expiring, the Canadians can't clear as Oliwer Kaski keeps it in and Mikael Ruohomaa is left unchecked in front and jams it in. Finland leads 1-0.

1:27 p.m. — Henrique and Foudy break out 2-on-1 but Foudy whiffs.

1:25 p.m. — Finland goes back on the power play as Nick Paul gets called for high-sticking. The Finns' power play hasn't been great in the tournament (3-for-13) but that doesn't mean you give them chances. Also, to be fair, it was terrible call. 

1:24 p.m. — Nothing doing for Finland.

1:22 p.m. — Justin Danforth gets two and 10 for boarding. Canada goes on the penalty kill.

1:18 p.m. — If you don't think this is a revenge game, Max Comtois, Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Michael DiPietro (who is not dressed in this game) also lost to Finland in the quarterfinals at the 2019 world juniors .

1:16 p.m. — Michael Bunting gets sprung but can't really corral the puck.

1:15 p.m. — You have to love how international games always start on time. Game on!

Pregame

12:35 p.m. — Lines are here:

12:30 p.m. — Foreshadowing things to come?

Jackie Spiegel