Finland Beats Sweden in Tight 3-1 Battle at World Junior Summer Showcase

It’s the final day of the World Junior Summer Showcase, and there were two games on the schedule on Saturday afternoon, August 2, both rivalry games. The first was between the Nordic countries of Sweden and Finland, and both teams had a great showcase leading up to the final day. Both teams had players leading the way in points, and it was bound to be a great game with a lot of tension. 

Related: 3 Takeaways From Fifth Day of Games at World Junior Summer Showcase

Petteri Rimpinen was in the net for Finland while Carl Axelsson was in the net for Sweden. The game started off with a lot of back-and-forth action as anticipated between these two teams. Finland jumped to a lead on the power play, and Sweden had to fight back. Both teams battled hard, but Finland took the 3-1 win.

Game Recap

It was a very evenly matched first period with both teams having strong chances, but it was Finland who scored first. Heikki Ruohonen tallied a power-play goal to give his team a 1-0 lead late in the first period. Aatos Koivu and Kasper Pikkarainen assisted him, and that was the only goal of the period. 

The second period started quicker than the first, and it was Finland on the power play for the second straight time. Roope Vesterinen scored the goal, Daniel Nieminen and Jasper Kuhta assisted him to make it 2-0. It took most of the period, but Sweden answered on their own power play. Jack Berglund scored the goal, his fourth of the showcase. He was assisted by Mevlin Fernström and Liam Danielsson to make it 2-1. That was the final goal of the period, and Finland took the lead into the third. 

The third period was a close-fought battle with chances for both sides, but the goaltenders proved strong, and the penalty kill stepped up as well. Finland’s Vesterinen added an empty net goal to seal the win. The lone assist went to Ruohonen. Sweden gave it their all, but Finland kept the lead and took the 3-1 win.

This was the final day of the week-long showcase, meaning both of these teams will head home for the rest of the summer. When the hockey season officially kicks off, they’ll be with their respective regular season teams until December hits, when they’ll rejoin this roster if they’ve been selected.