Canada Hockey: MacKinnon's late goal sends Canada to Olympic gold game
Nathan MacKinnon's one-timer in the closing seconds lifted Team Canada to a 3-2 semifinal win over Finland and put canada hockey into the gold-medal match Sunday at 8: 10 a. m. ET. The finish delivered a comeback victory that the Halifax region and the wider hockey community treated as a defining moment of these Winter Games.
Canada Hockey: MacKinnon's late winner
MacKinnon's decisive goal came off a pass from Connor McDavid, one-timing the puck past goaltender Juuse Saros with 35. 2 seconds left on the clock to break a 2-2 tie. The strike completed a comeback that had seen Sam Reinhart cut the deficit earlier in the second period. The final score was 3-2, advancing Canada to the Olympic gold-medal game scheduled for Sunday at 8: 10 a. m. ET.
How the deciding play unfolded
The game-winner followed sustained pressure and a sequence that began with a hard-fought battle on the half wall. McDavid found a tight seam, and MacKinnon's work along the boards and ability to win the wall battle kept the play alive until the puck returned to him for the one-timer. The goal capped a long shift and a concerted power-play and puck-possession effort that teams had been refining in recent competitions, producing the critical scoring chance in the semifinal.
Crosby's status and the path to gold
Sidney Crosby did not play in the Finland game after sustaining a lower-body injury in the earlier quarterfinal match; he was ruled out of that semifinal. Team officials have not ruled him out for the gold-medal game, and his availability remains an open question ahead of Sunday’s matchup. In his absence, leadership duties on the ice were carried by other veteran players, and a younger replacement took a prominent role on a key special-teams unit.
The immediate forward look is straightforward: Canada will face one opponent in the gold-medal game on Sunday morning ET, with roster clarity around Crosby expected to be a focal point in the hours before puck drop. If Crosby is cleared to play, he would return to a lineup that has just produced a last-minute winner; if he is unavailable, the group that finished the semifinal will carry momentum into the title game.
Locally, the win sparked an intense reaction in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, where banners honoring the town's NHL alumni were on display and community venues filled to watch the late finish. The combination of MacKinnon's late heroics and the town’s connection to multiple national-team standouts framed the victory as both a national and regional milestone for canada hockey.
