For the first time since 1998, Team Canada will not participate in the World Junior Championship semifinal.
This after Finland beat Canada 6-5 in Saturday's quarter-final game.
A few untimely penalties could very well have cost Team Canada a spot in the next round. While on the powerplay halfway through the second period, Finland was called for a penalty, but a hold by Jake Virtanen negated what would have been a 5-on-3 advantage for Canada. Later, with the score 5-5, Virtanen then took back-to-back penalties. Joe Hicketts was called for a delay of game by shooting the puck over the glass while in Canada's end a short time later. That 5-on-3 opportunity led to a goal by Patrik Laine, which would eventually be the game-winner.
Finland would be called for a holding penalty with three minutes to go, but a shot to the mouth of Julius Nattinen sent Mitch Marner to the penalty box. This after Marner scored two goals to tie the game at 4-4, and 5-5.
Clachan's Travis Konecny earned his first and only goal of the tournament to open the scoring for Canada early in the first period. He finished +1 with three shots on net.
Finland will now take on Rival Sweden in one semifinal matchup, while Russia will play the winner of Czech Republic or Team USA in the other semifinal game.
