Finland take gold in World Championships

Marko Antilla led Finland to gold by scoring 2 goals but they were also helped by a goalkeeping masterclass from Kevin Lankinen, turning away 43 shots: 20 in the last period.

Anttila saved his best for last in Bratislava. He scored four on Finland's final six goals, including the late tying marker against Sweden in the quarter-finals, the winner against Russia in the semis, and two of three today.

But the result could have been so different as, during a dominant first period Canada got on the board through THEODORE. He fastened on to a loose puck and drilled a shot high past Lankinen after 10 minutes.

This was after Kaski had missed a penalty shot when he slowly advanced on Murray only to shoot a weak effort into his pads.

The second period was split in terms of performance. After 23 minutes ANTTILA shot through Murray’s pads to tie the scores. This seemed to enthuse Finland, unsurprisingly, and they were in command for the next ten minutes. After that Canada came into the game again and Stone, the tournament's leading goal scorer, had a great chance from the slot but snapped a shot right into Lankinen's chest. Most of the rest of the game was played in the Finnish end, but the entire team and Lankinen kept them at bay.

Finland took the lead from that man ANTTILA. He collected a pass from Savinainen and lifted a shot over the shoulder of the netminder.

From that point on it was one-way traffic and a goal for Canada seemed inevitable but it was the Finns who got the insurance goal through PESONEN as he flicked a shot on goal that Murray didn't see. It beat him on the short side, this was only the third shot he’d seen all period. The heart was knocked out of Canada and Finland cruised to only their second gold medal.

Tweets by @eurohockey