Canada takes Group B at WJHC with victory over Finland

Canada pulled away against Finland with a thrilling 7-4 victory on New Year's Eve to win Group B at the 2026 World Junior Championship.

Friday's quarterfinal matchups are now set with the preliminary round complete.

The game started in frenetic fashion with each team scoring on their first two shots, resulting in a 2-2 score just 5:40 into the contest. Canada and Finland each scored again in the opening frame to make it 3-3 after 20 minutes.

Canada began to assert its dominance in the second period, building a two-goal lead with tallies from Tij Iginla and Cole Beaudoin. Roope Vesterinen responded late in the second for Finland to make it a one-goal game, but Beaudoin scored again in the third period to restore Canada's two-goal cushion before Sam O'Reilly added an empty-netter.

Beaudoin, who also added an assist, was named player of the game. O'Reilly, Iginla, Zayne Parekh, Brady Martin, Caleb Desnoyers, and Michael Hage also contributed with multi-point efforts for Canada.