Bennett’s Goalie Interference Penalty Costs Team Canada in Olympic Semifinal

Sam Bennett took a costly goaltender interference penalty early in today’s Olympic men’s hockey semifinal against Finland at Milano Cortina 2026. It was the kind of play that fans worried about when a player like Bennett — who tends to walk the edge of being too aggressive — was selected for the team.

The incident happened in the first period when Bennett crashed into Finnish goalie Juuse Saros after a save. Some reports describe him as bulldozing or slamming Florida Panthers teammate Niko Mikkola into Saros, leading to a scrum and the net coming off. Refs called goaltender interference (goalie interference), sending Bennett to the box.

Finland capitalized immediately: Mikko Rantanen scored on the faceoff that was won clean and ripped one home on the power play just seconds in. It gave Finland a 1-0 lead after the first period. It was Finland’s second power play of the game (Canada also had a too-many-men bench minor earlier).

Bennett wasn’t initially selected for the team but was added as a replacement due to injury. His aggressive style has value, but when it’s too aggressive, he tends to cost his team. Was this one of those instances? Some fans on social media were quick to say so.

This is a big momentum swing in a tight, physical semifinal with Canada already missing captain Sidney Crosby (lower-body injury). Bennett, who sat out the quarterfinal vs. Czechia due to illness but returned today, is known for his gritty/net-crashing style, but this one backfired badly.

Team Canada’s poor faceoff stats didn’t help. It’s been an ongoing issue during this tournament and winning faceoffs is something they’ll need to figure out. The good news for Canadian fans is that they are only down one goal. They know how to play in that situation, coming back against Team Czechia just a couple of days ago.

Whether it’s a “needless” penalty is now irrelevant. Team Canada needs to find a way to get that goal back.

Next: Crosby Out For Team Canada in Semifinals, McDavid Team Captain