Finland surprised by Canada again
A year ago, Team Canada surprisingly beat Team Finland in the quater-finals. This year, the Canadians did it again. In a really tight game they overwhelmed Finland 6-5.
| Game no. 28 • aQF • Thu 23/6/2011 • 16:00 • Schedule and results | ||
|---|---|---|
Finland |
5:6 |  Canada |
| (1:1, 1:3, 2:1, 1:1) | ||
| Karhu - Jokinen, Joki-Erkilla, Aalto, Lappalainen - Palotie, Lehtonen, Saarinen, Lohtander - Ahosilta, Markkane, Kauppinen, Laaksonen - Vuori, Nieminen | Leggat - Hammond, Ross, French, Eng - Foote, Nowakowski, Grassi, Henderson - Woods, Carter, Hutchinson | |
| Goals and assists: 3. Ahosilta (Markkanen, Kauppinen), 19. Joki-Erkkila (Lappalinen, Jokinen), 31. Markkanen (Kauppinen), 33. Lappalainen, 48. Saarinen (Markkanen) - 10. Woods (Henderson), 15. Woods (Henderson, French), 18. Carter, 22. Hammond (Ross), 32. Carter (Woods), 43. Woods (Grassi, Hammond) | ||
| Shots: 35:30
(10:11, 5:9, 13:5, 7:5).
Penalties: 2:6.
PP goals: 2:1.
SH goals: 0:0. Refferees: Úlehla (CZE), Aumueller (GER). Audience: 1000. |
||
 Live coverage on onlajny.cz | ||
Game report
Finland took the lead in the third minute, thanks to Pat Ahosilta scoring in third minute with a perfect shot just inside the post. At the beginning of the game, his team seemed to be in better shape, but Team Canada scored three goals.
"Finland has a good team and I am glad that we won the game. Many Finnish opportunities were eliminated by our defencemen. They played a perfect game," said Brett Leggat, the Canadian goalkeeper.
Thomas Woods was successful twice, but Team Finland did not give up. In the 19th minute, Juho Joki-Erkkila tied up the game. Three minutes later, David Hammond restored Canada`s two-goal lead.
For most of the second half, both teams played evenly. Canada did a good job of holding its lead almost right to the end, but then ran into penalty trouble. They had to play with only two players on the floor against five Finnish players, who had pulled their goalie.
Jesse Saarinen scored Finland`s fifth goal with the three-man advantage, but that was as close as they would came. Finland lost the game by a score of 6-5. Team Canada will fight for a spot in the finals against Team USA.
"It´s a huge disappointment for us. We wanted to play for medals. It is hard to say something. We should have converted on more power-plays," said Jesse Saarinen.
Author: Tomas Pavlicek
Game reactions
Nemo Nokkosmaki (Team Finland coach): We are really sad that we lost in the quater-finals. We did not manage to play our game. Leggat played great, but we missed the net too often and we got in front of him for rebounds only a few times.
Jason Stephens (Team Canada coach): We played a great game. Before the game, we found out everything we could about the opponent and then we held to our game plan. I am happy that our team has advanced to the semifinals.
