Less than 24 hours after seeing their gold medal hopes slip away, Canada’s National Junior Team showed its resilience Monday afternoon, bouncing back with a 6–3 win over Finland to capture the bronze medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship.
Still feeling the sting of a heartbreaking semifinal loss to Czechia, the Canadians responded with pace, purpose, and poise in the third-place game, closing out an 11-day tournament on a high note.
Canada wasted no time setting the tone. Just 70 seconds into the opening period, Sam O’Reilly opened the scoring, igniting a fast and physical start that defined the afternoon.
Finland answered quickly, but the teams traded goals in a back-and-forth first period that ended 3–2 for Canada.
One of the defining moments of the game came late in the opening frame when defenceman Zayne Parekh scored to restore Canada’s lead.
The goal not only proved crucial in the game’s flow but also etched Parekh’s name into Canadian hockey history. With the tally, he recorded his 13th point of the tournament, setting a new Canadian World Juniors record for points by a defenceman.
Canada began to pull away in the second period, extending its lead with goals from Porter Martone and O’Reilly, who finished the afternoon with two goals.
While Finland pushed back and narrowed the gap to two, Canada consistently answered, maintaining control through disciplined play and timely scoring.
Early in the third, the Canadians continued to apply pressure, and Gavin McKenna’s goal at the 13:35 mark effectively sealed the result, restoring a three-goal cushion.
From there, Canada locked things down defensively, seeing out the final minutes before celebrating the bronze medal as the final horn sounded.
After coming within minutes of a berth in the gold medal game, Canada showed its character by regrouping quickly and finishing on the podium.
