Rasmussen leads Canada past Finland 4-3 in fifth-place game at Ivan Hlinka

BRECLAV, Czech Republic — Michael Rasmussen scored the winner with 8:36 to go as Canada’s under-18 team finished the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup with a 4-3 win over Finland on Friday in the fifth-place game.

Ian Mitchell had a pair of goals and added an assist for Canada, while Nick Suzuki also scored and Joseph Veleno chipped in with three assists.

“It’s obviously not the end result we wanted, but it is still nice to end off with a win,” said Mitchell. “Anytime you play for Team Canada, there is a tremendous amount of pride that comes with wearing that logo, and representing our country.

“I felt we got better every day, and it’s unfortunate not to be competing for a medal. As a group, we wanted to end on a good note, and we feel we did that.”

Sami Moilanen, Linus Nyman and Santeri Virtanen replied for Finland.

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Rasmussen put away the winner on a two-man advantage. Owen Tippett found Rasmussen at the side of the Finnish net, and he calmly went to the forehand to beat goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen from in close.

Canada was 3 for 6 on the power play.

Moilanen beat Canadian goalie Michael DiPietro on a five-on-three just 5:04 after the puck dropped.

Mitchell responded for Canada with 24 seconds left in the first period, taking a pass from Veleno before firing a shot past Luukkonen. He added a second three minutes into the second period, again on an assist from Veleno on the power play.

Veleno set up his another goal midway through the second period, finding Nick Suzuki for Canada’s second power-play goal of the period.

Nyman cut into the Canadian lead near the end of the second, making it a 3-2 game after 40 minutes.

Virtanen pulled Finland even six minutes into the third with another power-play goal, but Rasmussen’s winner less than six minutes later was the difference.

Although its eight-year run as gold medallist came to an end, Canada improved its all-time record at summer under-18 tournaments to an impressive 85-13-6 since first taking part in 1991.

The Canadian Press