MINNEAPOLIS — Cole Beaudoin and Brady Martin each scored twice as Canada topped Finland 7-4 at the world junior hockey championship on Wednesday.
Zayne Parekh had a goal and a pair of assists to help his country finish atop Group B at the annual men’s under-20 tournament. Tij Iginla scored and set up another.
Michael Hage, Sam O’Reilly and Caleb Desnoyers each chipped in two assists. Carter George made 14 saves. Beaudoin picked up an assist and O’Reilly added an empty-netter for three-point nights.
Roope Vesterinen, with a goal and an assist, Julius Miettinen, Oliver Suvanto and Lasse Boelius replied for Finland. Matias Vanhanen registered two assists. Petteri Rimpinen stopped 25 shots.
Canada now pivots to Friday’s quarterfinal clash with Slovakia. The other matchups will see Finland take on the United States, Sweden face Latvia, and Czechia meet Switzerland.
The Canadians secured 11 of a possible 12 points through four round-robin games, with the only blemish a 2-1 overtime triumph over Latvia. Canada has won seven straight against Finland at the world juniors, with the last loss coming in the quarters of the 2019 event in Vancouver.
Finnish captain Aron Kiviharju, who played almost 28 minutes in Monday’s 2-1 OT victory against Czechia, sat out with an illness.
Iginla broke a 3-3 tie midway through the second period when he took a long breakaway pass from Parekh on a power play and fired glove side.
Beaudoin made it 5-3 with under three minutes to go before the intermission, but the Finns, who picked up a chippy 6-3 victory over Canada in a July exhibition game, responded 35 seconds later when Vesterinen jumped on a Keaton Verhoeff turnover and roofed his shot past George’s right ear.
Beaudoin gave his team some breathing room at 6-4 with his second in the third, and Canada cruised from there on New Year’s Eve before O’Reilly iced it late.
The countries were fired out of a cannon in a wild opening period at 3M Arena on the University of Minnesota campus.
Parekh scored on the game’s first shot before Miettinen did the same on Finland’s initial effort on target.
Voted goaltender of the tournament last year when Finland fell to the U.S. in a thrilling OT final, Rimpinen also allowed the second shot he faced when Martin bagged his first of the night 32 seconds later. But Suvanto replied just over a minute later as the countries combined for four goals on four shots.
Martin made it 3-2 on a power-play rebound before Boelius replied on a Finnish man advantage that stood after Canada challenged for goaltender interference on George, whose glove was touched by Joona Saarelainen’s stick as the teams combined for six goals on 13 shots in just under 12 minutes.
Canada, which lost 4-1 to the U.S. on New Year’s Eve at last year’s tournament in Ottawa, is looking to get back on the podium and is eyeing a record 21st gold medal after back-to-back disastrous fifth-place finishes, including last year on home soil.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 31, 2025.
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
