On Saturday, Finland secured the first World Championship medal in its history. The Lions will play in the final on Sunday from 8.20pm against either Canada or the Czech Republic.
28.5. 16:40 • Updated May 28th. 21:18
The Finnish men’s hockey national team made history on Saturday in Tampere, when it made its way to the finals of the tournament for the first time in the World Championships. The lions defeated the United States 4–3 in the semi-finals.
Finland will face Canada in Sunday’s final. The match starts at 20.20. Canada crushed the Czech Republic 6-1 in Saturday’s semi-finals.
– These are the things you dream of. Again, there is a chance to win it at its finest, Lieutenant Captain Mikael Granlund said.
At the same time, Lions also secured the first World Championship medal in its history. Before that, there have been eight men’s home races, in which Finland has been fourth at best. The women’s hockey national team was in the finals of the home games in 2019.
He became the hero of the lions Miro Heiskanen, who hit the opening goal of the tournament and also scored two goals. Two points in the evening were reached Sami Vatanen with powers 1 + 1 and Harri Pesonen with its two entry points.
– This was probably my best performance in this tournament. Of course, there is still room for improvement. Tomorrow I will get the most out of it, Heiskanen promised to Urheilu.
A great start for the United States
The struggle was marked by the defense situation in the United States. The United States played with only four defenders, in addition to a four-way striker Sam Lafferty played a pack of scatter exchanges. This retaliated in a significant way in the end, as Lafferty had to follow two Lions goals from the field.
However, the United States got a great start to the match when Nate Schmidtin the shot from the blue line sank past what was in the mask Jussi Olkinuoran. By the way, the visitors were able to confuse Finland’s play with active bitter play, which also produced exploitation and excellent counter-attacks.
Towards the end of the batch, Finland was able to create longer spins, and in the end Heiskanen brought the Lions to the levels. Heiskanen slid in front of the goal and lifted the goal from the knuckle side of Lafferty to the ceiling.
Take turns to paint
Finland continued strongly in the second installment and took the lead in the last seconds of superiority Sakari Mannisen with a handsome shot in the upper right corner. Manninen opened up space on the left side, and he tapped his racket on the ice for a long time, asking for a pass. From Mikko Lehtonen.
The United States quickly cleared the hit in 26.52 when Sean Farrell passed the Olkinuora left in the mask. The Finnish guard had been unemployed in the first round, as he had not accumulated a single fight.
The lions hit before the middle of the match, when Vatanen decided on Finland’s long spin in the attack area – this time in front of Lafferty’s nose. The lions had time to attack the United States with three chains a minute and 40 seconds before Vatanen succeeded.
The United States started the final round stronger, but the Lions struck with a 4–2 hit victory as early as 45.03. Successfully completed Joel ArmiaThe scorer was Schmidt.
– Good thing the bets have gone in. I’ve had so much fun every day with these guys. This is a pretty awesome group and hopefully we’ll get it brightest tomorrow, Armia, who scored the winning goal, said.
In the end, the United States put the game in a hurry when Adam Gaudette succeeded less than three minutes before the final buzzer. However, the lions endured the rush of visitors in the final moments.