IIHF World Championships: Reigning title winners Finland succumb to US after losing to Canada-NHL News
The defending champions of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships, Finland, have met with two consecutive losses, and the result stands affecting their standing even though they had won their initial four games straight.
Following their 3-5 defeat against Canada on Friday, May 11, they were humbled to lose 0-5 against Team USA on Sunday, May 13.
It was a remarkable comeback from the United States after being held out by Kazakhstan until the overtime last week when they had managed to score decisive goal into the last minute.
US goaltender, Jimmy Howard, made 18 saves in the Finland game to power his team to the wide-margin victory. It was one of the rare shutouts by the netminder against Finland.
Team US started off the game well, gaining first-period lead and never looked to settle down until the end.
The result was particularly notable as the US team, given their performance against Kazakhs, were expected to face a stiff challenge.
It looked all too easy for them, at the end. They outperformed the Finns in the opening frame, outshooting the host nation, 10-4.
They had one-goal lead into first 20 minutes, courtesy of a goal from Max Pacioretty.
While Howard managed to defend the net impressively, it was not a good day for Kari Lehtonen, Finland’s goaltender.
He was continuously given tough time by the Americans, who beat him five times. It was one of the rare poor show-offs by Finns goaltender, much regrettable to his side.
Team US came out of the first half with the commanding lead of 3-0 and consolidated it with two more goals in the second period.
Finland were without a goal until the end, rueing over their consecutive losses.
Meanwhile, in other games, Russians overpowered Czech Republic, 2-0, to extend their winning streak to six games.
The Russian squad is expected to get boost this week as their two centres, who play for the Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League (NHL), are joining them after their team’s elimination in the Eastern Conference playoff semi-finals.
Norway beat Germany with a two-goal margin, with final score 4-2. In another matchup, Slovakia were winners against Switzerland with the final score 1-0.
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