World Juniors 2020: Canada's Connor McMichael scores third-period goal with his foot

Rudi Schuller

World Juniors 2020: Canada's Connor McMichael scores third-period goal with his foot image

It ain't over til it's over.

Less than a minute after Russia took a two-goal third-period lead in the 2020 IIHF World Juniors gold medal game, Canada pulled back to within a goal thanks to a fortuitous deflection off Connor McMichael. Canadian defenceman Calen Addison unleashed a slapshot from the right side that caromed off a Russian player's helmet before bouncing off McMichael's right foot and nestling inside the net behind netminder Amir Miftakhov.

MORE: Dylan Cozens scores Canada's opener with 5-on-3 goal

The officials briefly reviewed the goal for a possible kicking motion, but it was allowed to stand.

The goal came at the perfect time for the Canadians as Russia had seemingly drained the life out of the game just a moment earlier. Instead, McMichael's marker gave the Canadians the momentum to continue to push for an equalizer, which came through captain Barrett Hayton later in the third period. Akil Thomas capped the comeback with the game-winner at the 16:02 mark to help propel Canada to world junior gold.

Rudi Schuller