Recovering from a tight comeback, the United States defeated Finland 4-1 in their first game of the Men’s Ice Hockey World Championship in Tampere on Friday.
Montreal Canadiens candidates Sean Farrell and Lane Hutson and their teammates started the tournament well against tough opponents. Playing at home, the Finns broke the ice through Teemu Hartikainen towards the end of the first period, but then Casey DeSmith withstood all attacks.
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The last 40 minutes belonged to the visitors. Alex Tuch and Rocco Grimaldi joined forces in the third period and scored a superb goal. Drew O’Connor and Cutter Gauthier also scored against the tournament’s defending champion.
Tuch completed the goal in empty net and allowed O’Connor the third point.
Hutson thought he had clinched his first point of the tournament in the first half but Matt Coronato’s goal was disallowed after the video briefing. The young defender went there with a nice blind pass for the striker, who fired from long-range. That shot was deflected past Emil Larmi, but officials concluded that Michael Eyssimont had obstructed the Finnish goalkeeper by getting close to his semi-circle.
Not used much by head coach David Quinn, Farrell clocked an 11:12 time on the ice. Hutson meanwhile played 15:12.
Finland play their next game against Germany on Saturday, while the Americans meet Hungary the following day.
It’s not easy for the Swedes, but it’s okay
Sweden faced Germany early in the period and had to wait a long time before solving the mystery of goalkeeper Mathias Niederberger, but Oscar Lindberg’s goal early in the third period was enough to win 1-0 in a contentious match in Tampere.
Placed in front of the opposition net, the former Ottawa Senators deflected a shot from Jonatan Berggren during a power play. Lars Johansson then closed the door on the German team by repelling a total of 19 pucks.
In the winners’ camp, youth player Leo Carlsson has not fired a shot for more than 13 minutes. The forward finished the season at the top of the National Hockey League’s Central Scouting list among skaters from outside North America. The Scandinavians meet Austria on Sunday.
Among the Germans facing the Finns on Saturday, former Bettman Circuit player Dominik Kahun was the most dangerous with four shots.
Czech Republic beats its big rival
For Riga, all the first-half goals came in the Czech Republic’s 3-2 win over Slovakia in a Group B match against Canada.
Lukas Sedlak took the lead with a brace and veteran Roman Cervenka scored the other Czech goal. Martin Chromiak and Mislav Rosandic provided the Slovakian counterpart. Detroit Red Wings winger Dominik Kubalik had two assists.
Slovakia’s next game is scheduled for Saturday against Latvia. The Czech Republic will cross swords with Kazakhstan on Sunday.