Finland bounces back from Canada loss with win over Germany at world juniors

After suffering a tough 4-0 loss to host Canada in their opening game, Finland showed their resilience by bouncing back with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Germany in the World Junior Hockey Championship in Ottawa.

Emil Pieniniemi, Arttu Alasiurua, and Jesse Kiiskinen were the goal scorers for Finland, who managed to outshoot the winless German team 43-32. Clemens Sager scored the lone goal for Germany, who had previously lost 10-4 to the United States.

Finland took the lead with a 1-0 advantage after the first period and maintained a 2-1 lead heading into the third period. Germany’s goaltender Linus Vieillard put on a stellar performance, stopping 40 of the 42 shots he faced, while Petteri Rimpinen made 31 saves for Finland.

Both teams are set to play their next games on Sunday, with Finland facing off against the U.S. and Germany taking on Canada.

In another game earlier on Friday, Slovakia managed to bounce back from a 5-2 defeat to Sweden by securing a narrow 2-1 win over Switzerland. Jan Chovan’s late goal in the third period broke the 1-1 tie and sealed the victory for Slovakia. Daniel Jencko also found the back of the net for Slovakia, while Eric Schneller scored for Switzerland.

Both teams had 29 shots on goal, and they are scheduled to play again on Sunday, with Slovakia going up against The Czech Republic and Switzerland facing Sweden.

In the third game of the day, Sweden dominated Kazakhstan with an impressive 8-1 victory. Anton Wahlberg scored twice, including a goal in the five-goal first period onslaught by Sweden. Victor Eklund, David Edstrom, Linus Eriksson, Felix Nilsson, Oskar Vuollet, and David Granberg also contributed goals for Sweden.

Artur Gross managed to score the lone goal for Kazakhstan, who struggled against Sweden’s offensive prowess. Sweden held a commanding 5-0 lead after the first period and extended it to 6-1 going into the third period.

Kazakhstan will play their next game against Czechia on Saturday, while Sweden will face Switzerland on Sunday.

In the late game on Friday, Canada is set to take on Latvia as they look to continue their winning start to the tournament.