Canada beats Finland 5-3, will face United States in 4 Nations final

Canada’s Mark Stone, center, celebrates after a goal by Connor McDavid during first period of a 4 Nations Face-Off hockey game against Finland

Nathan MacKinnon scored twice. Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist. Sidney Crosby flipped in an empty-netter from center ice after Finland cut a four-goal deficit to one in the final minutes.

Canada’s best players came through in the 4 Nations Face-Off yesterday [Macau time] to earn a rematch of their fight-filled preliminary bout with the United States. The rivals will meet in the tournament final.

“That’s what you need: big plays from big-time players,” Crosby said after the 5-3 victory over Finland. “These guys are used to playing in these big games under the spotlight and delivering. They did again tonight.”

Canada and the United States will play on Thursday night in a sequel to a round-robin game in Montreal last week that started with three fights and ended with the Americans celebrating a 3-1 victory. Canadian forward — and Boston Bruins captain — Brad Marchand will take the ice as an opponent at the TD Garden in a series where fans had to be asked not to boo the opponents’ national anthem.

Jordan Binnington stopped 23 shots for Canada on the same ice where he clinched the 2019 Stanley Cup for the St. Louis Blues. Brayden Point also scored and Sam Reinhart had three assists as the Canadians opened a 4-0 lead in the first 25 minutes.

Sweden rallied after falling behind just 35 seconds into the game, and Samuel Ersson made 31 saves yesterday to beat the United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off round-robin finale, handing the title game-bound Americans their first loss of the tournament.

The nightcap meant nothing to either the Americans or Swedes: The U.S. had already clinched a spot in Thursday night’s championship game against Canada, which beat Finland earlier, and Sweden needed Canada to falter to have a chance of making the final.

With some fans wearing powdered wigs and colonial-era tricorn hats, the Boston crowd bellowed “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the game — a response to the Canadians who booed the U.S. national anthem before the early matchups in Montreal. Chants of “U-S-A!” rang out through the TD Garden in the final minutes, with goalie Jake Oettinger pulled for an extra skater, but the Americans couldn’t beat Ersson to force overtime. MDT/AP