Canada defeats Finland in OT thriller for gold at world juniors in Edmonton
CBC
Mason McTavish finished as the top scorer at the World Junior Hockey Championship. He was also named the tournament's most valuable player. But, most importantly, he also made The Save of the tournament.
McTavish's desperation goal-line attempt to knock Topi Niemela's shot out of the air kept Saturday's championship final alive, setting the stage for Kent Johnson to score the overtime golden goal to give Canada a 3-2 win over Finland in Edmonton.
"I got pretty lucky, the stick was in the right place at the right time," said McTavish. "I don't know, it was pretty crazy, and I was pretty tired, too. I just thought I had to get off the ice, and the next thing I know, KJ was putting the puck in the net."
Coming into the third, Canada held a 2-0 lead, but the Finns roared back to tie the game in front of 13,327 fans at Rogers Place. After being credited with just 13 shots over the first two periods, the Finns launched 17 shots on net in the third, and got goals from Aleksi Heimosalmi and Joakim Kemell to send the game to overtime.
WATCH l Canada's Kent Johnson scores golden goal against Finland:
And then, after a giveaway in their own zone, the Canadians were left scrambling as Niemela had a glorious goalmouth chance to win it. He was so sure his effort was going to win the tournament, his arms were in the air.
And then came McTavish.
"It's tough, it was a great hockey game, I don't know what to say," Niemela said after the game as he fought back tears.
"It was very close, like, two centimetres. I don't know how he got it. It was a nice save."
WATCH l Mason McTavish makes incredible save in OT:
And then came Johnson, who took a pass from Logan Stankoven and tucked home the rebound from his own shot to give Canada the gold medal.
"I saw a nice move by Stank, I thought he'd slide it over, and thought if I went to the backhand, the five-hole would open up," said Johnson. "I had a lot more room than that, and, luckily, I banged in the rebound there. So, yeah, it was just huge."
And his reaction to the McTavish miracle?
"I didn't fully see it. I didn't know it was batted out of the air or whatnot. I kinda just thought it was on the ice, I didn't think too much of it. Obviously, I was a bit nervous, the puck's on the goal line. Then I saw the video after, and it was like, wow. What a play. That was the best play of OT."
