Slovakia lacks luck to proceed to the semis

16 May 2013 | Alan Ilijic

As early as 1:31 into the game, Finland got the first lead of the game through Ossi Vaananen and the Finns looked as if they had secured the semifinals spot. In the end, Juhamatti Aaltonen sees his game winning goal at 48:13 to take his team to Stockholm.

The Finns had a perfect start to the game scoring to take the lead early in the game. Ossi Vaananen circled the net and fired past Rastislav Stana in net. Team Finland took advantage of the momentum they built and by the end of the first period were ahead 3:0.

Petri Kontiola scored twice in the first. At 09:52 on the assist from Juhamatti Aaltonen and Janne Pesonen he deked Rastislav Stana, while at 15:44 he knocked out their opponents. Juhamatti Aaltonen added an assists on this goal.

Kontiola added an assist, together with Janne Pesonen when Juhamatti Aaltonen scores at 48:13 the game-winner and sent the audience in Hartwall Arena into trance.

After the first period Vladimir Vujtek, Slovak's head coach, obviously had his say. His team skated back onto the ice in total renaissance. Michel Miklik could celebrate his reducing the Finnish lead at 25:03 from the blue line. Roman Kukumberg and Branislav Mezei assisted.

At 32:17 the lead was cut to only one, when Andrej Sekera scored to make the game interesting. The momentum was definitely on the Slovak side and the Finns were stunned.

Another shock for everyone present: just 30 seconds into the third period Tomas Surovy ties the game on the assists from Mezei and Radivojevic.

Antti Raanta spent the whole game between the pipes for the Finnish side, making 33 saves on 36 shots thus allowing 3 goals, with the record of 91,67%. Rastislav Stana on the other side conceded one more on 25 shots, and kept his record at 84%.

Petri Kontiola (2G, 1A) was proclaimed the best player of the Finnish side, while on the other side Tomas Kopecky received the same honors on the Slovak side.

The Finns now travel to Stockholm for the semifinals where they will face Canada/Sweden who already await over there. Slovakia travels back home with a bitter feel in their mouths.