“There’s no goal that compares to that one,” said the man expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 draft. “It was pretty special to open the score and see the reaction of the crowd. […] I was a little nervous before the match started, but I tried to approach it like any other match. »
The strategy worked well. McKenna accepted Matthew Schaefer’s brilliant delivery at the mouth of the net, and went for it three times to beat Petteri Rimpinen, excellent in front of the other cage, with 52 seconds remaining in the first period.
He’s done what he’s done hundreds of times in much more ordinary matches than this one. Not bad for someone who celebrated her 17th birthday a week ago.
“I kind of expected it,” said goalie Carter George, player of the match thanks to a 31-save shutout. Gavin is an incredible player. He jumped on the ice and got the first goal for us. He is a special player and I can’t wait to see what he can do in this tournament. »
Easton Cowan, Luca Pinelli and Schaefer, in an empty net, scored the other goals for the Maple Leaf team, which was able to count on George at the top of his game. The hope of the Los Angeles Kings prevented the Finns from finding a little hope in a match that was still close.
After all, the home favorites only led by two goals after 40 minutes. The goaltender was responsible for closing the door with brilliant saves in the third period as the opponent got three power plays – firing no less than 20 shots towards his net.
He also had help from his brigade who threw themselves in front of probably as many throws in the meantime.
“Carter is a big piece on this team, and he played a big role in this victory,” praised Schaefer. I feel like we would have had a totally different match if he hadn’t been so dominant. He made some big saves. »
A good mark
With such a tight score, it would only have taken a small goal for the pressure to change sides.
But now, we saw the first signs of a team capable of resisting it by imposing its rhythm thanks to sustained forechecking and a willingness to sacrifice itself for the good of the team. Dave Cameron’s flock agreed to do so for the majority of the 60 minutes of this meeting.
“I loved everything,” Cameron said. We were solid from start to finish. They came back strong and we resisted, we blocked shots. That says a lot about our dedication tonight. We saw the character of our team. We checked off several items on our list. »
Pinelli crowned his team’s great effort by sealing the outcome with less than five minutes remaining on the clock and Schaefer added more with an empty net. If Canada did not explode offensively, we can say that it generated enough chances in this match to reassure observers about the lack of secondary production observed during the preparatory meetings.
This is a good sign for the future since Finland represented Canada’s second biggest challenge in the preliminary round. The big test, that against the United States, will take place on December 31. Until then, Cameron’s squad will face Latvia on Friday and Germany on Sunday.
This will certainly be an opportunity to refine certain details.
