Hytonen, Finland win over Russia

Juha-Pekka Hytonen strikes late in the third to give Finland the edge over Russia and win the game. With a minute to go, Russia call the timeout as team Finland were shorthanded, Zinetula Bilyaletdinov pulls Barulin from the net, but merely five seconds later, Hytonen wins the race and fires the puck into the empty net from the right boards.

Both teams started strong and with solid defense, though the Russians had more of the play down the ice. After the first 20 minutes the game was still levelled with no one scoring.

The Finns opened the second period with a goal through Olli Palola at 21:06, but that didn't deprive Russians to keep playing their game. At 26:33 Maxim Chudinov brings us back to where we started as he levells the score at 1. It seemed team Russia should get a win as they continued to put pressure.

Though Teemu Hartikainen wouldn't agree, as he slided the puck past Barulin at 58:30. Anssi Salmela took the shot from outside the slot, the puck got deflected into the air so Hartikainen was in the right place at the right moment to slide it in before it hit the ice back, for a highlight goal.

In the end Alexander Radulov assists to Ilya Kovalchuk who from a severe angle with just a second to go, as a consolidation goal.

Atte Engren in Finnish net kept his saving percentage at 92,31% stopping 24 shots of 26 made. He made some highlight plays to keep the Finns alive throughout the match and probably earns the MVP title.

With this win Finland keeps their almost perfect record and holds firmly the first place in the overall standings with 19 points, 7 more than Russia in second place.

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