In the first quarterfinal game of this edition of the Junior Ice Hockey World Championship, we saw an incredible end to the game as the surprising Slovaks ended up losing 4-3 in overtime to Finland in Gothenburg on Tuesday.
Montreal Canadiens junior Filip Mesar delivered another strong performance, forcing overtime with 44 seconds left in the third period. Slovakia had dropped their goalkeeper for a sixth fielder and the assistant captain took the opportunity to beat goalkeeper Niklas Kokko with a wrist shot.
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However, this moment of joy gave way to disappointment. Just 24 seconds into extra time, Finland captain Jere Lassila broke through the opposition defenders before denying the goalkeeper with a beautiful feint. The Slovaks had never beaten their rivals in the quarterfinals and that streak continued.
Mesar will be able to return to Kitchener with his head held high, having had a great tournament with nine points in five games. Adam Sykora and Dalibor Dvorsky also scored in Slovakia's last duel.
Sweden suffers but is qualified
It wasn't easy for Sweden either, as extra time had to be completed in the 3-2 win over Switzerland.
During a power play, defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka scored the game-winning goal, beating Alessio Beglieri with a wrist shot from the side of the shield.
The Swiss took advantage of their goalkeeper's excellent performance, especially towards the end of the game, to come back from a 2-0 deficit after 20 minutes of the game and take the game into extra time.
Otto Stenberg scored the first goal 94 seconds into the first period, while Jonathan Lekkerimaki doubled his team's lead at the very end of the period. Jan Hornecker, in the last minutes of the second third, then Nick Meile enabled the Helvetians to return to the game.
Swedish goalkeeper Hugo Havelid made 15 saves in the win.