Finland, Switzerland reach World Championship final

Stockholm — Finland came back from a goal down to win 4-2 over top seeds Canada and book their spot in the final of the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship where they will face host nation Switzerland, who hammered Norway 6-0 earlier in the day.

Finland took the lead at the 3:30 mark of the first period, turning over the Canadians and feeding the puck to Patrik Puistola, who whipped it into the top-right corner of the net to cap a perfect breakaway.

Canada, who suffered an overtime loss to the U.S. in February's Winter Olympics gold medal match, levelled less than five minutes later through Robert Thomas, who pounced on a deflected shot to score.

They took the lead when Dylan Holloway took down a lofted pass and fired home to leave them 2-1 up after the first frame.

Undeterred, the Finns came roaring out of the traps and broke the game open in a stellar second period, Aleksander Barkov scoring after 49 seconds and Konsta Helenius and Aatu Raty adding goals to send them into a 4-2 lead.

Standing on the brink of elimination, the Canadians stormed forward in the final period, but Finnish goalie Justus Annunen was in superb form as the Finnish rearguard held firm to see them safely through to the gold medal game.

Four-time winners Finland go into Sunday's final hoping for their first victory since 2022, while Switzerland will be playing in their third straight final and looking for their first gold medal.

Hosts Switzerland blazed over Norway to book their spot in the decider for the third year in a row, where they will meet Finland.

The Norwegians held the game scoreless until late in the first period, but once Christoph Bertschy broke the deadlock at the 17:36 mark, the writing was on the wall for the Norwegians.

Roared on by the home crowd, the Swiss team delivered a three-goal salvo in the second period with Denis Malgin, Ken Jager and Damien Riat all getting on the scoresheet as the Norwegians showed signs of fatigue, conceding a number of cheap penalties.

That trio of goals brought Norway's storybook journey, which had taken them to the last four for the first time since 1951, to a shuddering halt, and a power-play goal from Nico Hischier made it 5-0 at the 4:27 mark of the third period before Theo Rochette scored their sixth with 2:26 remaining.

Norway can still improve on their best-ever result of fourth from 1951 in Sunday's bronze medal game, where they will meet the Finns.

Sunday's final at Zurich's Swiss Life Arena will be the sixth for Switzerland and their third in a row, but they have never won the tournament.

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Finland, Switzerland reach World Championship final