On Friday, the Canadians were once more shoved to the edge during the elimination phase of the men's hockey competition at this year's Olympics. Having gotten past Czechia via an overtime tally in the quarters, they needed Nathan MacKinnon to convert with the extra man, only 35.2 ticks remaining on the regulation clock, to slip by Finland.
That extra-man situation arose when Niko Mikkola, a Finnish defender, high-sticked MacKinnon; Colorado's Avalanche standout dramatically jerked his head backward to flag the call for the duo of Canadian zebras — Eric Furlatt along with Dan O'Rourke.
That both whistles came from natives of the winning side's homeland wasn't missed by Teemu Selanne, the Finnish icon, who unloaded in a post-match tweet.
Selanne wrote that beating both the globe's top hockey country and Canadian officials on a single night is seemingly impossible, calling the late-game whistle in an Olympic semifinal an utterly humiliating joke.
Beating greatest hockey country in the world and Canadian referees same night is impossible I guess… absolutely embarrassing penalty 90 seconds to go in Olympic semifinal.. what a joke🤬 — Teemu Selanne (@TeemuSel8nne) February 20, 2026
One could contend that MacKinnon sold the contact, yet Mikkola's stick did clip him, which qualifies as a clear penalty under NHL and IIHF guidelines alike. The officials had no choice but to send their countrymen to the man advantage, though an earlier and more debatable sequence had also irked the Finns.
With 9:26 to play in the final frame, Shea Theodore hammered a one-timer by Juuse Saros to knot the score at two. That blast from the point came shortly after the netminder had been flattened in his crease by Brad Marchand, who was shoved into him by Finland's Erik Haula. Even so, since Marchand had first established position in the paint, the IIHF code might have justified a stoppage before the disc went over the line.
Saros, joined by a handful of Finnish blueliners, tried arguing the point with the zebras, but their bench passed on challenging it, so the marker held. Afterward, Joel Armia, a forward, told New York Post reporter Mollie Walker that, at five-on-five, Canada potted one tally that really constituted goalie interference.
It wasn't the night's only run-in for Saros with a Florida forward; earlier, during the opening 20 minutes, Sam Bennett barreled into the Predators' keeper in an accidentally-on-purpose fashion. In contrast to Marchand, Bennett was whistled, and Mikko Rantanen converted the power play that followed.
Saros remarked to Luke Fox of Sportsnet that Bennett does it constantly, that it's simply a feature of how he plays, and that with everyone having watched him do so on numerous occasions, he assumes people grasp it was intentional.
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On the MacKinnon decider, Finland did spend a coach's challenge checking whether the zone entry on the power play had been offside. Once reviewed, though, that ruling also went against them.
Look how close Canada was to being offside before the Nathan McKinnon goal 😱 After review, it was ruled onside. Did the refs get the call right? pic.twitter.com/oX67MRbwms — Covers (@Covers) February 20, 2026
Canada has grown well used to beaten opponents grumbling over the officiating at this tournament. Czechia's coach, Radim Rulik, drew viral attention with remarks following his team's quarterfinal defeat, saying he believes the officials are simply too frightened to whistle anything on the Canadians.
Despite all the shared frustration voiced by their European foes, Canada will play for the gold medal Sunday, facing whichever team emerges from the remaining semifinal pitting Slovakia against the United States.