Two weeks ago, many could have predicted it. On Friday, it became official. Canada and the United States will play each other for the gold medal on Sunday.

Although we were minutes away from that not being the case.

Canada defeats Finland 3-2

The Canadian hockey team has been responsible for raising the collective heart rates of an entire country this week.

After barely squeaking by Czechia on Wednesday, it looked like Canada wouldn’t survive against Finland. The pesky Finns got out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to a power-play goal by Mikko Rantanen and a shorthanded goal by Erik Haula, a goal that looked reminiscent of some of the shorties the Avalanche have given up this year.

Without Sidney Crosby due to injury, Canada was forced to load up its top line again to generate offense, throwing Nathan MacKinnon with Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini. The big guns came through on the power play late in the second, atoning for the shorthanded goal they had allowed earlier. A Cale Makar point shot was tipped in by Sam Reinhart, giving Canada a much-needed boost.

It helped that after going up 2-0, Finland essentially stopped trying to score. They parked the bus and hoped to just hold on for the victory. Not exactly the smartest strategy against a talented team like Canada. Halfway through the third, Canada tied it on a Shea Theodore blast. Finland might have had a case for goaltender interference, as Brad Marchand seemed to interfere with Juuse Saros on his own, but their coach chose not to challenge it.

From that point on, it felt like just a matter of time before Canada would score the winner. With less than three minutes remaining, Nathan MacKinnon drew a high-sticking penalty in the offensive zone, making absolutely sure the refs saw that Niko Mikkola’s stick got him in the mouth. It would be an exhausted MacKinnon who played hero, sending a one-timer past Saros with 35 seconds left at the end of a shift that had lasted well over two minutes.

Finland challenged for offside, perhaps out of desperation, and although it was close, the goal stood, giving Canada the 3-2 victory.

United States defeats Slovakia 6-2

The second game of the day was a far different story, as the United States let there be no question as to who was the better team in their game.

Team USA got off to an incredible start, with Dylan Larkin blowing a wrist shot past Samuel Hlavaj just four minutes in. A late-period power-play goal by Tage Thompson seemed to kill Slovakia’s spirit, as the U.S. scored three more goals in the second to take a 5-0 lead into the third. Slovakia got a few in the third, but it didn’t matter.

As many expected (and hoped), it will be Canada against the United States on Sunday for the gold medal. The game will start at 6:10 a.m., so set your alarms. Finland and Slovakia will battle for the bronze on Saturday at 12:40 p.m.