Josh Carrick opened the scoring just past the four-minute mark of the first period, but that would be all the offence Canada could muster as it dropped a 2-1 semifinal decision to Finland on Friday at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games.

The loss means Canada will take on the United States in Saturday’s bronze medal game (6:45am Lethbridge time), while the Finns will face Russia on Sunday for gold. Carrick converted Canada’s first power play opportunity, but the Canadians finished 1-for-5 with the man advantage, including two chances in the first eight minutes of the third period, when it was a 1-1 game.

“It’s disappointing for us because we know we didn’t leave it all out there,” Canadian captain Joe Hicketts told iihf.com. “We took the second period off for a while there and in the third period we didn’t capitalize on those early power play chances.” Penalties proved to be Canada’s undoing late in the game, as the Finns scored the game-winning goal on a power play with 4:34 to go, just seconds after the first half of a two-man advantage had expired.

Lethbridge Hurricanes 1^st round draft picks, Ryan Pilon and Reid Duke were held off the scoresheet while Keven Bouchard made 17 saves in a losing cause as the Canadians were outshot 19-17. For more information on the 2012 Youth Winter Olympics, visit www.hockeycanada.ca or www.innsbruck2012.com