GAME NOTES: CANADA VS. FINLAND (JAN. 9)

The preliminary round at the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship comes to a close Tuesday as Canada’s National Women's Under-18 Team battles Finland for top spot in Group A at Bossard Arena.

Last Game

Canada downed Czechia 8-1 on Sunday for its second win in as many days. The Canadians scored three shorthanded goals—two from Abby Stonehouse, who also added three helpers for a five-point performance. Caitlin Kraemer scored twice to set another goal-scoring record, passing Marie-Philip Poulin for the most by a Canadian at U18 Women’s Worlds. Emma Venusio, Morgan Jackson and Mackenzie Alexander rounded out the scoring. Rhyah Stewart made 23 saves in her tournament debut.

Finland is also undefeated in Group A after shutting out Germany 6-0 on Sunday. Emma Ekolumoa scored her second hat trick in as many games and added an assist, Abigail Byskata had two goals and a helper, and captain Tuuli Talinen recorded three assists. Kerttu Kuja-Halkola made six saves for Finland.

Last Meeting

Canada last met Finland in the semifinals last year, with the Canadians edging the Finns 3-2 in overtime. Abby Stonehouse opened the scoring midway through the first period, but Sanni Vanhanen responded to help Finland tie it after 40 minutes. Paulina Salonen gave the Finns an early lead in the third period with a power-play goal eight seconds into the frame before Alex Law tied it with 7:22 left to push the game to extra time. Ava Murphy scored the game-winner and Hannah Clark made 24 saves to send Canada to the gold medal game.

What to Watch

There are nine returning players for Canada and their experience is showing. After her five-point performance on Sunday, Abby Stonehouse is tied for the tournament scoring lead with seven points (2-5—7). Captain Emma Venusio is also steadily contributing to the Canadian offence, with five points (1-4—5) through two games. And let’s not forget Kraemer, who has four goals in two games, is up to 14 in her U18 Women’s Worlds career and seems to set a new record every time she touches the puck.

Ekoluoma has been terrific for the Finns, scoring back-to-back hat tricks to start the tournament and sitting alongside Stonehouse with a tournament-leading seven points in two games. The 17-year-old has been terrific with Kärpät in the Naisten Liiga, the top women’s league in Finland, recording 12 goals and 22 points in 23 games.

A Look Back

This will be the 14th meeting between the Canadians and Finns at U18 Women’s Worlds, and as the Finnish program continues to improve, the games have become much closer in recent years.

In their first-ever meeting at the inaugural world championship in Calgary in 2008, Canada got five points each from Laura Fortino (1-4—5) and Natalie Spooner (0-5—5) and a hat trick from Marie-Philip Poulin in a 17-0 win, still the most goals scored in one game by a Canadian team at the tournament.

But Finland handed Canada a 2-0 loss in the opening game of the 2022 tournament, before Jade Iginla and Madison Chantler helped Canada secure a 2-1 win in the semifinals, and it took an overtime winner from Alex Law to give Canada a 3-2 semifinal win last year.

All-time record: Canada leads 12-1 (1-0 in OT)
Canada goals: 74
Finland goals: 8