Canada down Finland to set up USA ice hockey grudge clash

Two days after suffering a bruising 3-1 loss to the USA in a chaotic clash in Montreal, Canada ensured they would have a chance to avenge that loss against the Americans in Thursday’s final in Boston.

Saturday’s first meeting between Canada and the US descended into mayhem within seconds of the puck being dropped, with three fistfights breaking out in the first nine seconds.

That tumultuous opening came after Canada’s home fans had drowned out the US national anthem with a cacophony of boos — reflecting the bitter political tensions between the two neighbors following US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on Canadian goods.

Trump has also repeatedly called for Canada to become the “51st state” of the United States, and routinely refers to Canada’s outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “Governor Trudeau.”

Canada’s players meanwhile said Monday they are relishing the chance of another crack at the Americans after Saturday’s ill-tempered tussle.

“The last thing we wanted was to go home today,” Canadian center Nathan MacKinnon said. “We’d love to play them (the Americans) again — we feel like we could beat those guys. We plan on playing a little better Thursday.”

Team-mate Sam Reinhart echoed MacKinnon’s comments.

“That’s what you want, you want an opportunity to play those guys again. Today that’s what we gave ourselves a chance to do,” Reinhart said.

“We expect the same atmosphere. You try and learn from what went well and what went wrong and hopefully we’ll come out on the right side.”

Canada needed a win in regulation against the Finns at Boston’s TD Garden on Monday to be certain of reaching Thursday’s final.

That outcome was all but guaranteed after first period goals from Connor McDavid, MacKinnon and Brayden Point fired Canada into an early 3-0 lead.

MacKinnon doubled his tally after scoring in the second period to put Canada 4-0 up.

Finland pulled a goal back from Esa Lindell before a quickfire brace from Mikael Granlund made it 4-3 to set up a nervy finale.

But veteran Canada star Sidney Crosby rifled a shot into an empty net in the final minute to give the Canadians a two-goal winning cushion.