yesterday 16:22
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Finnish hockey players also won their second appearance in the “Slovak” C-group of the Olympic tournament in Beijing. On Friday, they defeated Latvia 3: 1 and in the table they hold the leading position in terms of score ahead of the six-point Sweden.
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Latvians as well as Slovaks are still waiting for the first point at the Olympic Games 2022, thanks to a better score they are in third place.
The winning Finnish goal at the National Indoor Stadium was scored in the 55th minute by the experienced Leo Komarov, at the very end another veteran Marko Anttila sealed the triumph. The “Suomi” will compete for the championship in the group at 9.40 CET on Sunday, resp. direct advance to the quarterfinals against rivals from Sweden.
The Latvians can no longer finish better in the table than in third place, at the end of the group fights they will meet Slovakia (on Sunday at 5.10 CET).C-group:
Latvia – Finland 1: 3 (0: 0, 0: 1, 1: 2)
Goals: 44. Abols (Krastenbergs, Smirnovs) – 38. Kemiläinen (Lehtonen, Nättinen), 55. Komarov (Hietanen, Pokka), 59. Anttila (Mäenalanen, Lindbohm)
Referees: Gouin (CAN), Nord – Lundgren (both Sweden), Šišlo (RUS), disqualification: 3: 2 for 2 min., Power-ups: 1: 0, weakening: 0: 0, 904 spectators
Reports:
Latvia: Kalninš – Freibergs, Cibulskis, Jak, Mamčics, Žile, Balinskis, Ozols, Kulda – Krastenbergs, Abols, Keninsh – Darzins, Daugavinš, Indrašis – Meija, Batna, Jelisejevs – Dzierkals, Smirnovs, Rih. Bucharest
Finland: Säteri – Hietanen, Lehtonen, Vatanen, Lindbohm, Pokka, Ohtamaa, Kemiläinen – Hartikainen, Manninen, Mark. Granlund – Pakarinen, Filppula, Pesonen – Rajala, Nättinen, Aaltonen – Komarov, Björninen, Anttila – Mäenalanen
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The Latvians started fearlessly against the favorite and Säteri had his hands full at the beginning. It took the Finns a while to get into the pace, in the 9th minute Pakarinen closely tested Kalnins, who scored the first important intervention. The Latvian goalkeeper then excelled in Rajal’s shots. Although the Finnish players had a little more out of the game in the 1st period, the opponent cleverly pushed them into the corners, outside the dangerous shooting positions.
In the second period, the tactical chess game unfolded for a long time without significant chances. It wasn’t until the middle of the meeting that the “Suomi” began to step up their pressure. However, Kalninš stopped Aaltonen’s shot, veteran Anttila did not take another good opportunity and Nättinen did not hit the goal in the 2 to 1 renumbering. In the 37th minute, he saved Latvian spit after Hartikainen’s shot. Finnish pressure peaked two minutes before the end of the third, when Lehtonen charged on blue Kemiläinen, who rippled the net with a cannonball. Kalniš had a blurred view of his shot – 0: 1.
The Finns also started the third act at a good pace, close to the second goal was Pakarinen, who only hit Kalninša after Pesonen’s pass. The Latvians waited patiently for their chance, which came in a power play. In the 44th minute, Krastenbergs served the puck to Abols, who equalized with a shot from the first of the throwing ring. This gave the Latvians strength, in the further course they carefully kept the blue line and did not let the opponent into their zone. However, the Finns were constantly pounding and in the 55th minute, after the Hietanen shot, the Komarov puck successfully flowed – 1: 2. The Latvians were able to equalize, Indrašis set Säteri, but he backed the goal with a backhand. The favorite did not let the victory be taken anymore, he added a goal insurance 77 seconds before the end of Anttil, who set it at the final 3: 1.
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Post-match votes (source: IIHF.com):
Rodrigo Abols, scorer of Latvia: “Krastenbergs sent me a great pass in my goal, I had an open position on the shot, I just chose which corner I was aiming at. The Finns played exactly what we expected from them. It doesn’t matter that they have skilled players. They gave a compact performance and waited for our mistakes. We wanted to play a bit of their game, so it looked so compact from both sides and didn’t score many goals. Unfortunately, the decisive goal was scored by the opponent. ”
Jukka Jalonen, coach of Finland: “If you want to win in such matches, you have to play especially responsibly in defense, which we always try. Today it was difficult for us to score goals. Anttila has confirmed that he is a great hockey player, a good person and an important player for us. ”
Overseas fell in love with mini Granlund of Columbus:
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