On Saturday, Leijonat took a narrow victory in the World Ice Hockey Championship, when Austria fell by 3–1 goals.
Sports expert Ismo Lehkonen highlights three highlights from the Lions’ situation. You can also watch Lehkonen’s thoughts in the video below.
1. The promising game faltered
– Damn disappointed.
This is how expert Ismo Lehkonen characterized the Lions after the match against Austria.
– The first set was very promising and I was completely exhausted. It looked really good. Finland attacked with high quality and broke the blue line by playing 19 times. It received direct attacks towards the goal and took the goal posts 10–3.
– I thought that it would finally work. When things suddenly slowed down and the second set was downhill and the third forced, of course I was disappointed. I hope the game works.
According to the expert, after the first set, the Lions’ team was in a sluggish state. However, Finland defended well, as it gave only one scoring opportunity to Austria in the last two sets.
Leijonat, on the other hand, got five scoring chances in the last two sets, according to Lehkonen’s calculations, three of which came in the final moments of the game.
– However, it’s a bit surprising how fast and energetic the lion pack is.
2. Chains still lost
The second line of the Lions was almost the entire game in a familiar form from the third set of the match against Hungary, when Kasperi Kapanen played Antti Suomelan and Kaapo Kako on the side.
The chain immediately created six scoring opportunities in the opening set, of which it hit twice. In total, the chain took the goal posts 8–0.
With six minutes left in the match, Jalonen moved Kapanen to the edge of the first chain Teemu Hartikainen in place of. Jalonen answered in the following way when he was asked what he was looking for with the change.
– Kapanen was the best player on the field today, that’s why we made a change at the end of the game. Let’s see how we continue from this, Jalonen told Urheilu.
Jalonen has long trusted the first chain and justified its composition in terms of goals, among other things. On Saturday, the finishing positions of the first chain were modestly 2–2.
– During the last six minutes, we could see that Jalonen’s coaching team got emotional when the chains were not playing, says Lehkonen.
– It’s my wild guess when the change is made six minutes before the end. It was a clear message to the players that it’s time for each.
Lehkonen reminds that the triple and quadruple chains didn’t celebrate much at the finish line either. The game currently lacks flexibility, reaction, and change of direction play.
The game is sticky and forcing.
– Let’s settle for playing the minimum and withdraw into a defensive formation rather than start playing the game from the spinal cord.
– The indisputable fact is that the chemicals do not click into place with the canine tooth that we had hoped for. Although it sounded good in the beginning, it hasn’t taken off.
3. Will the firecracker remain in Kapane’s number one chain?
With his skating, Kapanen brought excitement to the play of the first chain during the pair change.
– Kasper’s playing has been the same as in the NHL. He has had good games and bad games. He was hidden during the Hungary game. Didn’t really grab and get excited, but now my legs and head were fine. It looked really good.
The signs are good, because Kapanen is one of the players who can help the Lions to the championship.
– He is a wild card who can solve games on his own. He is definitely needed in the championship races.
According to Lehkonen, however, it remains to be seen whether Kapanen’s move to the first chain is permanent or whether it was just a wake-up call.
However, according to Lehkonen, the players must quickly receive a message from the chains so that they have enough time to work on the matter.
– It’s always good to rely on that when you give the opponent five goal chances. It’s a back rest. That’s why chain changes are exactly 50-50.
Finland’s World Cup tournament continues with the last match of the first group on Tuesday against Denmark starting at 20:20. The match will be followed moment by moment in the application and on ‘s website.