Arttu Ruotsalainen Scores in OT to Lift Finland Over Canada

It was a slow summer game that saw little action through 60 minutes of play, but an overtime marker by Arttu Ruotsalainen gave Finland the 2-1 victory over Canada at the United States National Junior Evaluation Camp tournament in Plymouth, Michigan. 

Canada got a great effort out of Travis Konecny, the same guy that Canada pretty much forgot about late in the 2016 tournament. A few minutes into the first period, Lawson Crouse made a great pass from his own zone all the way to Konecny, who was standing all alone at the other blue line. The Flyers prospect came in all alone on Finnish goaltender Veini Vehviläinen, but couldn't score on the deke or the ensuing rebound.

That didn't stop him from finding the back of the net later in the period, however. With just over five minutes to go in the frame, Crouse sent a saucer pass to Konecny who was rushing in from the right slot. Konecny then fired a weak one towards the net, a blooper Vehviläinen somehow managed to miss and resulted in a 1-0 lead for Canada heading into the intermission.

The second period didn't see a lot of great scoring chances but did see Finland get a few more shots towards the Canadian net. Canada used Connor Ingram for over half the game, but after a solid start to the contest, they decided to finish the game with Evan Cormier. 

The Finns did look better with the puck, but the best chance of the game came in the dying seconds of the middle frame. After a Finnish defender gave the puck away in front of the net, Brett Howden had a chance on the one-timer from the slot. Somehow, Vehviläinen got in the way just in time to make the diving blocker save, keeping his team in the game with a one-goal deficit heading into the second period.

The game saw a nice lull until the eight-minute mark of the third. With Canada unable to score on a chance that hit the post midway through the final period, Eeli Tolvanen took the loose puck at the Canadian blue line and made his way all alone towards the net.  Tolvanen, a top-end Finnish talent, had no problem sending it past Cormier to give Finland their first goal of the contest to tie it up heading into overtime.

The overtime saw four-on-four action that really spiced up the game. Canada had a chance of their own, but it would be a good effort going back the other way that would result in Finland taking the victory. Considered to be one of the biggest stars for Finland, Arttu Ruotsalainen beat out a defensive effort by Anthony Beauvillier before tapping in the goal at the doorstep, giving the Finns the come-from-behind 2-1 victory.

Finland will next play the United States on Friday afternoon at 4:00 PM ET, while Canada will meet with Sweden earlier in the day at 1:00 PM.

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