Sweden wins 4 Nations Tournament in Finland

On Friday, Sweden battled Russia in Tanhuvaara to a 1-0 victory while Finland defeated Germany 3-0 in Rantasalmi. The Russians played a conservative game trying to take away Sweden’s shooting lanes and relying heavily on the brilliant goaltending of Nadezhda Aleksandrova. Sweden had plenty of time to practice their power play that showcased Victoria Samuelson feeding Emma Eliasson one-timer passes again and again. Eliasson came close to scoring in the second period ringing the post and cross bar on a few occasions.  Late in the third, on the powerplay again, Samuelson fed a perfect pass to Eliasson and she let a one-timer rip from the point. Aleksandrova made the initial save, but the rebound popped up in the air and Lisa Johansson hit a home run as she whacked the puck in mid-air and into the open net to give Sweden the lead and eventual win.

The next day in Savonlinna, Finland defeated Russia 4-0 and outshot them 39-15. Down the road in Tanhuvaara, Sweden couldn’t find a way to beat the Germans in regulation and had to settle for a 4-3 shootout win. The Germans fought hard after going down 1-0 in the first to secure a 2-1 lead in the second. The two goals were by Lina Schuster with the second one coming on a powerplay. Sophie Kratzer fed a perfect pass through the Swedish penalty killers feet that found Schuster open on the back door and she slapped in the leading goal.

Rebecca Stenberg tied it up for Sweden late in the third, but the German ‘never give up’ attitude prevailed again as less than a minute later. Julia Zorn gathered the puck in neutral zone and broke into the Swedish zone on a 2-on-1. Zorn attempted a pass across but the Swedish defender laid out and blocked the puck with her stick. However, the puck popped right back on Zorn’s stick and without hesitation she unleashed a quick wrist shot that pierced the top right corner. But Sweden wanted to prove they too never give up and less than 40 seconds later tied up the game on a Lina Wester goal. Overtime solved nothing and it looked like the shootout wouldn’t either until Eliasson finally beat Ivonne Schroder to win it for Sweden.

The final day couldn’t have been scripted any better with Sweden and Finland both securing two wins in the tournament and meeting in the final day to decide the tournament winner. So while all eyes where in Imatra for the battle between the neighbours, back in Tanhuvaara Russia beat Germany 2-0 to finish third in the tournament.

Finland stepped out on the ice ready to dominate, propelled by the Finnish fan filled Imatra Spa Arena, and outshot Sweden 17-6 in the first period. Despite dominating, Sweden found themselves on the scoreboard first after Victoria Samuelson let a wrist shot go through traffic that somehow beat Finland’s Anna Vanhatalo high blocker. Ten minutes later Linnea Hedin let a shot go from the point that again snuck through traffic to beat Vanhatalo. Finland didn’t give up though and scored right after but the ref waived off the goal, ruling goalie interference. The Imatra crowd informed the referee of their displeasure, but the call stood.

Vanhatalo found herself on the bench to start the second period and Meeri Raisanen came in to try to shake things up. The change wouldn’t do much offensively for Finland as they couldn’t solve the goaltending riddle put forth by Sweden’s Kim Martin. Martin was superb turning away 43 shots to give her team a 2-0 win, tournament championship, and herself a game MVP.

Finland, Russia, and Sweden have all secured births in the 2014 Sochi Olympics but Germany will have win theirs as they host the final Olympic qualification round February 7-10 in Weiden. Kazakhstan, Czech Republic, and China will travel to Germany while Japan, Norway, and Denmark travel to host Slovakia to battle for the final two spots at Sochi.

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