By Dan Burns
GANGNEUNG, South Korea (Reuters) – Maxim Noreau scored the only goal as Canada beat Finland 1-0 on Wednesday to win a spot in the semi-final round of the Olympic men’s ice hockey tournament.
It was a scoreless tie until early in the third period when Eric O’Dell won a face off in the Finland zone and got the puck back to Noreau who blasted a slap shot past Finland’s Mikko Koskinen into the upper left corner of the net.
For Noreau, it was redemption of sorts after his effort in the penalty-shot round in Canada’s loss to the Czech Republic last Saturday hit the goal post, securing victory for the Czechs.
Canada had to change goaltenders early in the second period when Ben Scrivens was injured following a collision with Finland’s Veli-Matti Savinainen. Kevin Poulin replaced him.
Canada will now face Germany in the semi-finals.
(Reporting By Dan Burns; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
