Defending champions Finland have made a false start to their second consecutive home World Cup. The Olympic champion, who had won two gold medals and one silver medal at the last three World Championships, lost 4-1 (1-0, 0-1, 0-3) to the USA in the opening game of Group A on Friday (May 12, 2023). .
In front of 12,056 spectators in the Arena in Tampere, Teemu Hartikainen gave the Finns the lead with a majority (18th minute). The supposed compensation through Matt Coronato (22nd) was withdrawn after video evidence requested by the Finnish coach Jukka Jalonen – because of a goalkeeper disability.
Twelve minutes later scored Cutter Gauthier in accordance with the rules for the 1:1 for the Americans, who had defeated the German team 6:3 last Tuesday at the World Cup dress rehearsal in Munich. Made the decision Drew O’Connor (50.) and Alex cloth (53rd, 60th) in the final third.
The Finnish team around Stanley Cup-Winner Mikko Rantanen is the second preliminary round opponent of the German national team on Saturday (7:20 p.m.).
Czech Republic wins opener against Slovakia
In group B in Riga, the twelve-time world champion Czech Republic defeated the Olympic bronze medalist Slovakia 3-2 (3-2, 0-0, 0-0).
Roman Cervenka (7th) and Lukas Sedlak (14th, 19th) scored the goals for the Czechs in front of 7,800 spectators. Martin Chromiak (5th) and Mislav Rosandic (11th) scored for the Slovaks.
In the second group game, Canada celebrated a befitting 6.0 win against Latvia.