Sweden won the group final against Finland.
Then the neighboring country highlights dark figures.
“Lead curse intact,” writes EPN.
Sweden has had a party start at this year’s hockey World Cup, and the early group final against Finland was just as exciting as many had predicted. Tre Kronor took the lead early in the match, when Adam Larsson went the kitchen route and put it 1-0.
Won the must-win match
But Tre Kronor lost the lead in the second period after two, quickly conceded goals – and Finland suddenly went against a jerk in the group. Sweden had a hard time creating pressure on a strong home defense, and in total the blue and yellow national team fired only 14 shots during the first two periods.
But in the third, the receipt came fairly immediately. With six minutes played of the period, Joel Kellman had to stand undisturbed in front of goal, and the control went perfectly into goal, and the meeting between neighboring countries went to penalties, where goalkeeper Magnus Hellberg became a great hero by saving three penalties, and Sweden thus created a iron grip on the group victory, which is not entirely unimportant in the World Cup context.
“Lead-heavy curse”
In Finland today it is somewhat depressing. While many are satisfied with the effort that the home team was responsible for, it is stated that the nightmare suite against Tre Kronor continues. Swedish EPN highlights an unexpected nightmare trend, with the headline: “Lead-heavy curse intact”.
What is meant is that Finland never managed to beat Sweden in a home tournament – and when Emil Bemström decided the match with his penalty, after five Finnish misses, it was clear that the trend would continue.
Finland has admittedly made good results in championships in recent years, but has never defeated Tre Kronor at home during a tournament. For Sweden, matches against the USA, Norway and Latvia are now waiting before the playoffs start. The match against the USA is played on Saturday.
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