06.06.2014 | Marek Kratochvíl

Hovi’s performance made the difference, Finland goes into the Final

Scandinavian derby between Finland and Sweden promised a great game and it was. The Finns took the lead and increased it step-by-step to four goals. Sweden fought back in the last ten minutes, but could only score two, which wasn’t enough.

Game #5 • Fri 6.6. • 15:00 • Minute-by-minute commentary

Finland

4:2

Sweden

Quarters: 0:0, 1:0, 2:0, 1:2

Finland: Hovi – Penttinen, Aalto, Jokinen, Joki-Erkkila – Pukka, Markkanen, Virtala, Strömberg – Saarinen, Partanen, Miettinen, Lohtander – Pellinen, Laakkonen.

Sweden: Ollikainen – Lilja, Sjören, Nilsson, Höglund – Gunnarsson, Svensson, Axelsson, Berglund – Erkgards, Bejmo, Wall, Eriksson – Johnsson, Kokkonen.

Goals and assists: 15. Jokinen (Joki-Erkkila), 29. Saarinen (Virtala), 30. Pellinen (Laakkonen, Pukka), 37. Jokinen – 40. Nilsson (Lilja, Berglund), 43. Sjoren (Erkgards)

Shots on goal: 21:37 (9:7, 6:10, 8:7, 6:13).
Penalties: 2:4, plus Axelsson (SWE) misconduct. PP goals: 0:0. SH goals: 1:0.
Referees: Prchal (CZE), Morrison (USA).

Photogallery

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Game report

There wasn’t much to see in the first period since both teams defended well. Only chance was on the Swedish side, but Hovi managed to stop that with a nice save. Eventually, the Finns took the lead with Markus Jokinen slipping through and scoring on far post.

The Swedes then had some great opportunities to equalize, but Sasu Hovi was enjoying himself and made it a one-man show in some parts of the game. He stopped besides other even a 2-on-nothing breakaway with his stick.

For more, the Finns scored twice more in the third quarter which got them very close to the final game. Jesse Saarinen scored with a fantastic wrist shot off the post and Ossi Pellinen finished a nice passing play with a tap-in against an open goal.

The Swedes had last twelve minutes to do something about the result, but they didn’t secure their defense well and conceded another one. Markus Jokinen‘s move in front of goal followed by a backhand finish beneath the bar could just do it.

Hovi robbed Axelsson in another big change, but the Swedes scored anyway. Marcus Nilsson pulled one down with a volley rebound on his shot blocked out by Hovi. However there were only nine minutes left on the board and three more for Sweden to score.

They got a great opportunity with a call after Hovi for delaying the game as he was supposed to knock off his net. Even though the penalty rest unpunished, the Swedes scored right after it. Robin Sjören‘s attempt have changed direction right in front of Hovi leaving him no chance to stop it.

Finland had some chances to confirm their lead, but Markkanen’s one was stealed by Ollikainen’s blocker save and Partanen’s penalty shot went wide. Anyway, the Swedes didn’t manage to get another one in the emotional ending to the game.

Reactions

Timo Nurmberg (Finland): I‘m so happy we advanced into the Final. I’m proud for my team. It’s true we played bad in the last quarter, but we did well before and the win is well-deserved. It doesn’t matter who will we play against. Both teams are really strong, so we have to concentrate on our performance and improve our game on puck.

Björn Östlund (Sweden): We played a better game than the previous one against Finland, but we failed in front of goal. We had so many chances in the first half, but we didn’t took any and that’s what decided. I hope we’ll learn from this for the bronze medal game and that we’ll win it.

There is no scheduled game.