For the first of two semifinal games on Friday, a pair of Hurricanes fought for their chance to compete for the gold medal in Milan. Both Canada and Finland needed overtime on Wednesday to advance, with both Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho playing pivotal roles in their teams' comebacks. Today, they finally got their chance to meet on dueling sides.
With Sidney Crosby out of the lineup for Canada, Jarvis was set to appear in his fourth game of the tournament, and he got a slight promotion to start. He started the game next to the NHL's leading goal scorer, Nathan MacKinnon. On the other side, Finland reunited Aho with Mikko Rantanen after the pair briefly played together last season with the Hurricanes and at the 4 Nations.
The Finns put themselves in a good spot early. Caniac favorites Mikko Rantanen and Erik Haula scored on special teams, and Aho played a role in both. On Rantanen's goal, Aho won the draw on the power play for him to immediately snap it home. Haula scored short-handed after Aho sat for an interference penalty.
However, Canada's pressure proved to be too much for Finland to handle. Sam Reinhart redirected a shot on the power play to cut into the lead, and Shea Theodore added another in the third to even things up. On the power play in the final minute, Nathan MacKinnon blasted home a one-timer to put Canada ahead and move them to the title game. They outshot Finland 31-9 over the final two periods.
It was a quiet game for Jarvis. Despite an early promotion, Jarvis didn't play a ton. After playing 4:12 in the first period, Jarvis's playing time steadily decreased. He finished the game with one shot in 8:48 on the ice. Aho ended the game with his assist and two shots in almost 17 minutes of play. He had a golden chance in the slot late in the third to restore Finland's lead, but he was stopped.
Now, both Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho await their next opponents, which will be determined this afternoon when the United States faces Slovakia. Aho and Finland will compete for the bronze medal on Saturday afternoon, while Seth Jarvis and Canada will face the winner of the second semifinal on Sunday morning for all the marbles.