Finns Squish Slovaks to Advance to World Junior Quarterfinals

31 Dec 2017Steven Ellis»

Finland has secured a spot in the quarterfinals after a third-period rush gave them a 5-2 victory over Slovakia on Saturday.

The game required 27 minutes to find the first goal after a close, but rather uninteresting opening period. Joona Koppanen, a 2016 Boston Bruins draft pick, made it 1-0 after converting on the doorstep off of a pass from Markus Nurmi, giving Finland the lead after a good start to the game by Slovakian netminder Roman Durny.

But at 34:14, Slovakia tied the game up at one. Martin Bodak would bring Slovakia back into the battle after taking Alex Tamasi's pass and skating just above the slot, firing a wrist shot past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen's blocker for the 1-1 goal.

With 56 seconds left in the second, the Finns, who hadn’t shown much skill despite the clear possession advantage, made it 2-1. Future Vancouver Canucks defenceman Olli Juolevi made a great play when he delayed a pass before Aapeli Rasanen re-directed the puck with a beautiful tip just in front of the crease, giving the Finns the advantage and the momentum heading into the intermission.

A third goal for Finland early in the third gave them what looked like a definitive advantage. At 46:23, Aleksi Heponiemi got his second goal of the tournament after driving to the net and deflecting a pass from Janne Kuokkanen in close off the skate, putting the Finns up by two.

But at 49:03, Slovakia, who defeated USA in a crazy game earlier in the week, made it 3-2 after Samuel Bucek grabbed his own rebound after taking a pass from Filip Krivosik and flicking it over Luukkonen, giving Slovakia a chance late in the game.

A pair of goals for Finland two-minutes apart sealed the deal. At 52:36, in a terrible moment for the Slovaks, Adam Ruzicka scored on his own net after winning the faceoff, with the puck trickling through Durny's pads for the 4-2 goal. Markus Nurmi would make it 5-2 at 54:01 after standing all alone in front, taking his time before backhanding it in to give Finland the 5-2 lead and a spot in the quarterfinals.

The Finns will look to improve their placement in Group A with a 4:00 PM start against the United States on New Year's Eve tomorrow. Slovakia can secure their spot in the quarterfinals with a Denmark loss to Canada tonight before meeting up with the Danes at HarborCenter on Sunday.

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Photo from Anders Marshall/Euro Hockey