Eeli Tolvanen scored the shootout winner as Finland handed Canada its first loss of the world hockey championship 2-1 on Monday in Stockholm, Sweden.
Patrik Puistola scored the game-tying marker for Finland at 7:01 of the third period. Juuse Saros stopped 37 shots.
Ryan O’Reilly opened the scoring for Canada at 7:47 of the second period for Canada, which got 20 stops from Marc-Andre Fleury.
WATCH | Canada drops 1st game at IIHF worlds in shootout loss to Finland:
Adam Fantilli had a chance to extend the shootout after a nice move on Juuse Saros, but couldn’t find the net. Finland won 2-1 in the shootout.
Canada entered the contest at 5-0, having outscored its opponents 28-2 in those preliminary games. Meanwhile, the Finns had only lost to co-host Sweden and had a plus-10 goal differential (18-8) coming into the matchup against Canada.
The Canadians (5-0-1-0) are second in Group A standings with 16 points, two behind Sweden (6-0-0-0). Finland (3-2-0-1) is third with 13 points.
Canada will close out the preliminary round against Sweden on Tuesday.
Other results
In Herning, Denmark, defending champion the Czech Republic shut out Germany 5-0 to stay unbeaten.
The sixth win lifted the Czechs to the top of Group B, one point ahead of Switzerland and three more than the United States in third.
The Czechs complete the group stage against the Americans on Tuesday.
Germany and Denmark also meet on Tuesday and will decide the fourth team from the group to reach the quarterfinals.
The Czechs’ Jakub Flek scored twice and David Pastrnak rifled a one-timer from the left circle and set up Lukas Sedlak in the middle period. Jakub Lauko added a short-handed goal.
Daniel Vladar shut out the Germans with 19 saves.
In Stockholm, newcomer Slovenia beat France 3-1 to avoid relegation at the expense of the French.
In Herning, Norway beat Hungary 1-0 also to avoid relegation.