Wilson, Bennett, Marchand ‘Rat Line’ makes an impact for Canada in Olympic semifinal

Canada defenceman Shea Theodore (27) celebrates his goal against Finland with Canada defenceman Travis Sanheim (6), Canada forward Tom Wilson (43) and Canada forward Brad Marchand (63) during third period men's Olympic semifinal hockey action at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

MILAN — Tom Wilson didn’t need any coaching.

Canada was down two goals in Friday’s Olympic semifinal against Finland. Jon Cooper needed a spark and deployed his nuclear option of Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Macklin Celebrini on the same line.

The country’s head coach also assembled a trio of agitators NHL fans love to hate — unless they’re on your side. Wilson jumped over the boards, followed by Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand to form a “Rat Line” worthy of a Spider-Man meme.

“We just all looked each other in the eye, and we knew what we were going to do,” Wilson said. “Fast, hard, create chaos, play physical, get pucks to the net and then good things would happen.

“Whenever Marchy goes into a scrum, it’s hard for me not to go flying in there.”

The move paid off as Canada rallied for a 3-2 comeback with goals from Sam Reinhart and Shea Theodore before Nathan MacKinnon’s power play winner with 35.2 seconds left sent Canada into the gold-medal game against the United States.

While neither Wilson, Bennett, nor Marchand found the scoresheet, they wore the Finns down with heavy hits and a relentless forecheck.

Marchand also fell into goalie Juuse Saros — with help from forward Eric Haula — moments before Theodore blasted his equalizer past the sprawling netminder after just over 15 minutes of scoreless play with Canada pressing.

Finnish players questioned whether the goal should have been called back for goalie interference. Marchand saw things differently.

“If they didn’t like it, they would’ve challenged it,” he said. “I knew it was a goal.

“There was a few seconds there before the shot went off, so he had time to reset.”

Bennett described Canada’s hero line of McDavid, MacKinnon and Celebrini — all No. 1 overall draft picks — as “three generational players.”

The trio Bennett, Wilson and Marchand could be more aptly described as three generational rabble-rousers.

“We’re all guys that understand the energy side of the game,” Bennett said. “We’re gonna try and swing the momentum, if we can, just try and wear them down shift after shift. Those guys have been doing it forever.

“They’re two of the best in the league at it. I really enjoyed playing with them there for a couple periods.”

Wilson is a six-foot-four, 225-pound force who regularly delivers some of the hardest hits in the league on the forecheck. Bennett — who once sucker-punched Marchand in a playoff game — plays with an edge and grit that gets him into trouble, but also provided a key ingredient to his Conn Smythe-worthy play last spring for the Florida Panthers.

Marchand, meanwhile, has unmatched talent in getting under the skin of his opponents.

Cooper said they impact the game in an entirely different — yet still effective — way than the McDavid-MacKinnon-Celebrini combination.

“Everybody in the big picture’s expecting one line to score all the time and the other one not to, and it’s only fitting that the work ethic of that other group was the line that scored the goal for us,” Cooper said. “It’s just lines that can tilt the ice, they just tilt the ice in different ways.”

Wilson describes the impact as “controlled chaos.”

“Guys that you hate playing against during the season, but when you get together as a line, it can be a lot of fun,” he said. “I love both their games, the way they play.

“Thought we did a good job at chipping in and creating pressure, and trying to turn the game.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 20, 2026.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press