This afternoon, Jani Nijman scored the equalizing goal late in the third period against Finland at the Scandinavian Am, and added the winning goal in the penalty shootout as Finland rallied to defeat Sweden 5-4. Ta. This result had several implications for Group A’s ranking.
This means the hosts will finish top of their group and ensure Finland’s place in the quarter-finals.
If Canada wins against Germany tonight, Latvia will advance to the playoffs and Germany will be sent to the relegation match. However, if Germany can pick up at least one point from Canada, they will advance level with Finland and Latvia will be out of the playoffs.
Sweden finished the round robin with a record of 3-0-1-0, while Finland had a record of 1-1-0-2.
“I don’t know what happened, but we weren’t ready from the beginning,” admitted Sweden forward Noah Østlund. “I won’t make excuses. We have to be better next time. The second and third were good, but they’re a good team. We’ll practice tomorrow too and be ready. I’m not worried.” Who we’re going to play. The first three games we played the way we wanted to play, but tonight we didn’t.”
It was clear early on that Sweden lacked their usual energy and Finland noticed right away as well. The Finns forechecked hard in the first game, played with more intensity and were rewarded with two goals late in the first half.
Oiva Keskinen won the head-to-head match and took the lead at 12:25. The first shot was stopped by Melker Thelin, but the puck fell to the feet of Tomi Manisto, who tapped it in for a 1-0 lead. This was Sweden’s first goal of the tournament after three shutouts and a 192:25 scoreless streak.
The only time Sweden had three consecutive clean sheets was at the 1988 World Junior Championships. Interestingly, they won just four games in that tournament, all shutouts.
Sweden continued to play sleepy hockey and paid the price with a similar play near the end. On a scramble centered around Tellin’s crease, Leni Hamenaho corralled the spilled puck and punched it in at the 18:21 mark. This was the 1,300th goal scored by Finland in the 48 years of the World Junior Championship.
“We started pretty well and at the end of the first period we were leading by two points,” said Kasper Haltunen. “It was important for us to get one point behind the other goalie. They played really good defense, so getting the first goal was huge for us.”
The Swedes woke up in the second and the teams combined for a wild five goals in 20 minutes as the lead changed hands and the goals came quickly. Sveridj scored two goals in the first seven minutes to tie the game and draw the crowd into the match. First, Isaac Born followed Finland’s scoring style and scored on a rebound at 3:24, then Jonathan Lekkerimäki scored on a power play with a wrist shot that hit the short side post, and Noa Bali scored. It was his second consecutive goal. start.
Finland regained the lead at 5-3 just eight seconds after gaining the advantage and once again won the match head-to-head. A huge outburst from Kasper Haltunen had the Thelins thrown into the wind, but the resurgent Swede scored his second equalizer. A quick wrister from Theo Lindstein’s wellout escaped through a maze of bodies and equipment and landed under Valli’s glove.
Then, at 14:53, Filip Bystedt’s low shot found a gap between the goalie’s pads and gave the hosts their first lead. Finland had a great chance to tie the score with a power play in the final stages of the game, but Sweden’s penalty kick was brilliantly converted and they overcame the scare.
Coach Lauri Mikkola brought Bari out early on, and the strategy paid off. Finland tied the score at 4-4 with 92 seconds left when Nyman scored on a loose puck. Neither team had particularly good chances in extra time, so I preferred a shootout to decide the match.