North American teams are always more pickable at the start of the World Championships when they come together. This is all the more true this year because they could not organize a preparation match this year because of the health bubble of five days to respect. Canada lost to Latvia yesterday, and the United States has a very tough first game against world champion Finland. But it reduced its preparation to two weeks by the Covid-19, far from the six weeks which had allowed Jukka Jalonen to form his group before the 2019 title.
Should we fear a slow increase in pace? Absolutely not. If these two teams have a watchword, it is “intensity”. They fully embark on a lively and hotly contested first period. These are formations built without stars that pull the cover: the advantage is that the four lines play with a similar playing time, which had not been the case with the United States in some years, or even with Finland under Marjamäki. The high tempo is therefore maintained without downtime. The two teams don’t concede any spaces, so there’s no unstoppable goal position, or even truly spectacular action. But it’s a very direct game where you shoot at the cage as soon as possible. We play quickly forward, and also quickly in the defensive retreat.
When Saku Mäenalanen receives a long counterattack puck in the second period, we see Matt Tennyson strip down to come back to his height. As the angle of the goal closes, Mäenalanen turns and serves the blue line Atte Ohtamaa… whose shot is deflected by the stick of the unlucky Brian Boyle (1-0). Matt Roy then takes the first penalty for a cross-check. Just after the power play ended, Teemu Turunen managed to put Tennyson in the wind with a nice technical move, but Zac Jones made up for it by blocking harshly. The referees let practice a physical game that fits well with this type of match.
A rebound sets fire to the Finnish cage for the first time: Mikael Seppäla throws himself on Blackwell but the goal is then wide open for Kevin Labanc who has the puck next to the cage. The hero of 2019 Marko Anttila hooks it just enough to make a “(very) useful mistake”. His teammates kill this penalty. The United States had a second big chance when, on a Finnish shot stopped by the American goalkeeper Cal Petersen, Jason Robertson recovered the puck and immediately sent Conor Garland in breakaway. The Coyotes forward feigned a left, but his backhand was knocked off the top of Olkinuora’s boot.
The Finns still score a goal from their ragpickers: Iiro Pakarinen works in the slot to hamper the goalkeeper then take the rebound, but it is Cal Petersen who brings the puck back to his own nets with an unfortunate movement of the leg warmer (2-0, left image). However, a penalty from Ville Pokka relaunched the match 25 seconds later. In the power play, Jason Robertson claims a long pass from Christian Wolanin, manages to control it in the air with his paddle with an absolutely magnificent gesture, and manages to propel the puck under Olkinuora’s boots (2-1). We can understand from this class action – and the whole of his match – why Robertson was invited in the race to threaten Kaprizov’s Calder Trophy.
After dominating the first two instead, Finland suffered the game in the third period, but they seem to be coping very well. Even so, the best chance is still an angled shot from Arttu Ruotsalainen narrowly deflected over Cal Petersen’s shoulder. There is no longer any question of equitable distribution of time: Jack Capuano favors his first line Robertson-Moore-Garland and relies on it to turn the game around. But their creativity and talent do not worry a well-established Finnish defensive system. Technically quite gifted too, Tage Thompson created the last good situation three minutes from time, but Juho Olkinuora caught his shot in his mitt. Jack Capuano leaves his goalkeeper to play six by adding to his first trio Labanc in support of the blue and Abdelkader in the slot, but without the slightest effect.
A Finnish victory, carried by a collective work at all times and by its needy in the fourth line led by the giant Anttila. The clash between Canadians and Americans tomorrow night promises a lot now that the two North American representatives have both lost their first game.
Designated players of the match: Jussi Olkinuora for Finland and Jason Robertson for the United States.
Finland – United States 2-1 (0-0, 2-1, 0-0)
Saturday May 22, 2021 at 4:15 p.m. at the Arena Riga. Behind closed doors.
Referees: Antonín Jeřábek (TCH) and Peter Stano (SVK) assisted by Daniel Hynek and Jiří Ondráček (TCH)
Penalties: Finland 4 ′ (0 ′, 4 ′, 0 ′); United States 2 ′ (0 ′, 2 ′, 0 ′).
Shots: Finland 29 (10, 14, 5); United States 30 (8, 8, 14).
Score evolution:
1-0 at 26’54: Ohtamaa assisté de Mäenalanen et Anttila
2-0 à 35’41: Pakarinen assisté de Pokka et Määttä
2-1 to 38’01: Robertson assisted by Wolanin (sup. Num.)
Finland
Attackers:
Teemu Turunen – Arttu Ruotsalainen – Jere Karjalainen
Jere Innala – Petri Kontiola (A, +1) – Iiro Pakarinen (+1)
Jere Sallinen – Mikael Ruohomaa – Anton Lundell (+1)
Saku Mäenalanen (+1) – Hannes Björninen (+1) – Marko Anttila (C, +1, 2 ′)
Defenders:
Atte Ohtamaa (A, +1) – Oliwer Kaski (+1)
Olli Määttä (+1) – Ville Pokka (+1, 2 ′)
Petteri Lindbohm – Tony Sund
Mikael Seppälä – Mika Koivisto
Guardian:
Jussi Olkinuora
Reporter: Harri Säteri (G). En Réserve: Janne Juvonen (G), Kim Nousiainen, Axel Rindell (D), Niko Ojamäki, Peter Tiivola, Valtteri Puustinen (A).
United States
Attackers:
Jason Robertson – Trevor Moore – Conor Garland
Eric Robinson – Colin Blackwell (A) – Kevin Labanc
Ryan Donato (-1) – Kevin Rooney – Tage Thompson (-1)
Brian Boyle (-1) – Matti Beniers (-2) – Justin Abdelkader (C, -1)
Sasha Chmelevski [quatre attaquants se relaient sur la 4e ligne]
Defenders
Christian Wolanin – Matt Roy (A, -1, 2′)
Zac Jones – Matt Tennyson (-2)
Matt Hellickson – Adam Clendening (-1)
Chris Wideman
Guardian:
Cal Petersen [sorti à 58’14]
Remplaçant : Jake Oettinger (G). En réserve : Anthony Stolarz (G), Ryan Shea, Connor Mackey (D), Jack Drury (A).
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