World Hockey Championship | Canada advances to the final

(Tampere) Jack Quinn and Adam Fantilli hit the target in the first half of the third period and Canada advanced to the Ice Hockey World Championship final with a 4-2 win over Latvia on Saturday after -noon.

Quinn first put Canada level at 2-2 after just 45 seconds into the third period.

Fantilli, who many observers rank as the No. 2 prospect for the upcoming National Hockey League draft, gave Canada the lead for the first time in the game some eight minutes later.

After receiving a pass from Milan Lucic near the opponent’s blue line, Fantilli came in front of defender Ralfs Freibergs, knocked him off balance with a nice feint before beating goalkeeper Arturs Silovs with a shot cuffs on the side of the mitten.

Justin Barron, a defenseman for the Montreal Canadiens, also had an assist on Fantilli’s goal.

Samuel Blais in the second period and Scott Laughton in an empty net in the last minute of the third period scored the other goals for Canada, which will play in the final match for the fourth consecutive edition on Sunday.

In 2019, 2021 and 2022, the Canadian team has each time faced Finland in the grand final, winning gold in 2021. This time, their opponents will be the United States or Germany, who will cross swords a bit later Saturday.

In 2020, the competition was canceled due to COVID-19.

In Locmelis, in the first period, and Rudolfs Balcers, 66 seconds after Blais’ net, beat Montreal Canadiens goaltender Samuel Montembeault, who faced 22 shots.

At the other end, Silovs made 35 saves, including 15 in the second half.

Latvia will play for the bronze medal on Sunday. In its history, Latvia had never done better than a seventh place in the World Championship before 2023.