Finnish hockey players defeated Norway 5: 0 (1: 0, 2: 0, 2: 0).
Finnish national goalkeeper Juho Olkinuora neutralized all 20 opponent shots in this match.
The Olympic champions took the lead one and a half minutes before the end of the first period, when Harri Pesonen threw the puck into the empty corner of the goal. In the 12th minute of the second period, the Finns intercepted the puck in the opponent’s defensive zone and Toni Rajala scored 2-0 with a lightning throw, but four minutes before going to the locker room, Hanness Bjerinen counterattacked one against the goalkeeper and strengthened the lead.
After the teams played 96 seconds in the third period, Joel’s Army threw the puck in the top corner and reached 4-0. In the middle of the period, Mangnus Breke Henriksen challenged Saku Mēnalanen to a fist fight and the match was over for both of them after the fight.
Two minutes before the end of the half, Jere Sallinen made the most of his chance to put Finland up by another goal.
Rajala also stood out in this match with two assists.
It has already been reported that in the first match of the day Latvia lost to the USA with 1: 4 (0: 3, 0: 1, 1: 0). The Czech Republic, Sweden, Austria and the United Kingdom will also fight in subgroup B.
Meanwhile, Canada defeated Germany 5: 3 (2: 0, 3: 1, 0: 2) in Helsinki.
The goals scored by Cole Silinger and Pierre Lika Dibua allowed the Canadians to win the first period 2-0. In the eighth minute of the second period, Mark Michael recovered one goal, but in the second half of the third, Dibua and Kent Johnson took the majority, while Noah Gregor scored 5: 1. In the last twenty minutes, Matthias Plahta and Moritz Zaiders reduced Canada’s lead, but the Germans did not play.
In the first match of the day, the Slovak won the bronze medal at the Olympic Games with a result of 4: 2 (1: 0, 2: 2, 1: 0). Switzerland, Denmark, Kazakhstan and Italy will also fight in subgroup A.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Hockey Federation (IIHF) suspended all Russian and Belarusian teams and clubs from competitions organized by the IIHF. Russia and Belarus will be replaced by France and Austria, which ranked the highest selection of countries not expected to play in the top division.
The 16 teams participating in the tournament are divided into two groups, eight units each, which guarantees seven games for each team in the subgroup competition. After one round of group matches, the four best teams in each subgroup will continue to fight for medals in the quarterfinals, while the weakest teams in the tournament will leave the strongest division last year, with Slovenia and Hungary in the top 16 next year.
The 2022 World Championships in Finland will take place from 13 to 29 May.
