The victory of the Tampere block is in the hands of the Lions. On Saturday, Finland won Austria with a sure game.
21.5. 18:26 • Updated May 21st. 19:26
The Finnish men’s hockey team strengthened its position at the top of Group B of the World Championships when it won 3–0 goals with a sure game in Austria.
The Lions will have another match against the Czech Republic in the opening round on Tuesday. Then the Lions secure the top spot in the block with a win. Block winning matters because it knows the easier way in the playoffs.
For example, in the quarterfinals, the winner of Group B will face the fourth-placed team in Group A, which is currently Denmark. An easier opponent may also be known in the semi-finals.
Finland lead the B-block with four points, but Sweden, which is second, has played one match less. If Finland and Sweden were tied, Sweden would win the block based on a match.
Sweden is still playing against Norway and Latvia. In theory, the United States could also reach a level playing field with Finland, but at that time the Lions would be the group leader thanks to mutual play.
The Lions and Kickert assured
Austria previously extended their match against the United States in the tournament and won the Czech Republic in the winning goal competition, but Finland was not surprising. From the beginning, the lions grind convincingly in four fields, and especially in the second batch, got a lot of long spins into Austrian territory.
Only played in the top game with the Austrian goal David Kickert took care of their counterattacks to ensure that the readings did not burst high.
Finland got off to a good start in the match when Teemu Hartikainen played behind the scoreboard To Valtteri Filppula. The captain, who slipped in front of Kickert, easily hit his third goal of the tournament.
Later in the second installment Mikael Granlund sohi after a long spin into the net of a loose disc dropped by Kickert. Granlund also got a pass point for the Lions ’opening finish, so he spent a two-point night.
Rajala hit the final scores
Granlund later had the overwhelming position to move the Lions to the 3-0 lead from Hartikainen’s feed, but Kickert, who had stretched to cross-movement, got a flip on the road.
At the end of the second round, Austria was close to getting involved in a two-on-one attack. Lions guard Jussi Olkinuora however, rejected Ali Wukovitsin companies.
In the final round, the Lions were allowed to enjoy one more hit when Toni Rajala decided to attack directly. Rajala’s bet fell from Filppula’s (1 + 1) feed to the upper left corner.
The match between Finland and the Czech Republic is scheduled for Tuesday at 8.20 pm in Tampere Arena.