Finland survived Germany, 3-1, in an exciting Group A battle at the Canadian Tire Centre to score its first win in the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship. The Nordic nation was stunned by Germany a year ago, 4-3, which ended the Germans’ 25-game losing streak to their northern neighbors at this prestigious hockey tournament.
Despite the loss and the 0-2 record, Germany played better against Finland than in their first outing against Team USA. Group A has no easy matchups, as evidenced by Latvia’s stunning 3-2 shootout win over Canada, which ended the day’s action in Ottawa yesterday.
Speed Leads to Goals for Both Teams
Finland and Germany utilized their skating to create scoring opportunities in the second period. A little more than five minutes into the middle frame, Finland doubled their lead, 2-0, on an Arttu Alasiurua tap-in goal. Finland hit the offensive blue line with speed, allowing the line of Jessi Nurmi, Tuomas Uronen, and Alasiurua to complete a trio of passes ending in the back of the German net — the zone entry with speed created the passing lines that Finland successfully utilized. The play was challenged for offsides, but the on-ice officials upheld the goal.
Right in formation🫡 Arttu Alasiurua gets Finland up by✌️! #GERFIN #WorldJuniors #IIHF @leijonat pic.twitter.com/nbfLP3GfCD
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) December 27, 2024
After killing the resulting man advantage for Finland, Germany found a quick response on forward Clemens Sager’s tally that cut the lead in half, 2-1. Like Finland’s second goal, Germany skated past the offensive blue line quickly, opening up space and creating traffic for Sager’s shot to sail past a screened draft-eligible Finnish goalie, Petteri Rimpinen.
Finland Shuts Down Germany in the Third Period
Despite a strong offensive push from Germany, Finland held firm in the third period before forward Jesse Kiiskinen, a Nashville Predators draft pick, sealed the game on the empty net goal to wrap up the scoring, 3-1. It almost didn’t get to an empty net as German forward Simon Seidl found himself alone in front of the Finnish netminder but could not find space under the pads for the tying tally.
Related: Guide to the 2025 World Junior Championship
After chasing the game against Canada, it was important for this group of Finnish players, including Buffalo Sabers prospect forward Konsta Helenius, to maintain their advantage despite Germany’s strong offensive foray in the final minutes.
Opportunity Available in Group A After Canada’s Loss
Following Canada’s loss last night in Ottawa, the rest of the teams in Group A can look at the standings with excitement. The host country still leads the standings with a 1-0-1-0 record and four points following the shootout loss. The United States is second with three points and has a suddenly intriguing matchup with fourth-place Latvia this afternoon. Finland is third following its win over fifth-place Germany.
After yesterday’s result, Latvia will bring the same mentality to its critical battle against the USA, looking to secure a first-ever appearance in the WJC knockout round. Latvia’s head coach, Artis Abols, understands the task isn’t any easier against Team USA tonight. “We found a way to slow them (Canada) down,” the Latvian bench boss said. “It means a lot to us… and it means nothing because two points is nothing on its own. We need two more. Tonight (Friday night), we are happy, but tomorrow we play the same level of opponent, so we have to start to prepare.”
The United States and Latvia have a game in hand on the field. Each squad has only made one appearance in the tournament. This will be settled as one of only two games on Saturday in Ottawa. Sunday features a full slate of action, including two Group A matchups – Finland vs. USA and Canada vs. Germany.
