Canada to play Finland for gold after semifinal win over Czech Republic

Mark Stone scored his tournament-leading eighth goal and added one assist as Canada knocked off the Czech Republic 5-1 to advance to its fourth gold-medal game in the last five World Championships.

Canada will play Finland - the only team to have beaten them at this year's event - for the gold medal Sunday.

Matt Murray was sensational for Canada, stopping 40 shots for his fifth victory of the tournament on his 25th birthday.

After Stone opened the scoring in the first period, Darnell Nurse and Pierre-Luc Dubois added to the lead in the second to put Canada up 3-0 heading into the final frame.

aTMiaTMiaTMi@18Dubois pots 's 3rd! pic.twitter.com/0d8Dxq6Lg2

- Team Canada Men (@HC_Men) May 25, 2019

Kyle Turris and Thomas Chabot sealed the game with tallies in the third period, while Tomas Zohorna scored the lone goal for the Czechs to snap Murray's shutout bid with six minutes to play.

Canada has guaranteed itself a podium finish after losing the bronze-medal contest to the U.S. at last year's event. With a victory over Finland, Canada would tie Russia/Soviet Union for the most gold-medal finishes at the worlds with 27.

Finland met Canada the last time it made the gold-medal contest in 2016, losing 2-0. The Finns haven't won gold since 2011 but have collected two silver medals (2014, 2016) since.

Canada has won eight consecutive games since suffering a 3-1 loss to Finland in the opening contest of the tournament.

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