Finland will play in the World Cup semi-final on Saturday. The quarter-final against Slovakia was full of events.
Petteri Rimpinen was again the guarantor of Finland’s victory together with Jesse Nurme. PDO
Nuoret Leijonat entered the World Cup quarter-finals like bulls on pasture. The team forged three goals in the first period.
The scorers of Finland’s opening set were Jesse Kiiskinen, Jesse Nurmi and Kasper Halttunen.
The team’s preparation for the big match was clearly successful.
– Basic issues were covered. We didn’t change anything, we went with normal preparation and it probably worked, said Rasmus Kumpulainen.
Kumpulainen scored Finland’s fourth hit and Nurmi scored the second of the night in the final set.
– Maybe we were able to control the puck more today. That was the difference between the two teams. It was a fast-paced game and it got even more exciting at the end, said Nurmi, who plays for OHL’s London Knights, who scored 2+1 points.
Two goals and an assist, was it Nurmi’s night today?
– It wasn’t in itself. Good game from the field, I got good passes in it. One cannot solve these.
A long break
Right at the beginning of the second period, Topias Hynninen got the puck in the goal, it went in the attacker’s skate. The hit was checked on video for a long time and it was accepted.
Slovakia then challenged the goalkeeper for interference, and the goal was disallowed.
Watching the videos took several minutes and it did not please the players.
Peiniemi for the shower
Aron Kiviharju gave feedback to the jury. PDO
Emil Pieniniemi roared in the second round in 9:32 Luka Radivojevic in the middle area, and Taklaus hit at least partially on the knee. The Slovak lay for a long time in real pain on the ice and was escorted out of the rink.
Pieniniemi received a 5+20 minute penalty and the game ended there.
Finnish skipper Aron Kiviharju had a long discussion with the head referee at the end of the set Mikael Holmin with about it.
– I asked if you were sure about it. I said it was a pretty tough sentence. That there are two teams there, that you can let someone go in the other direction as well. Swedish judge, these are always a bit difficult cases, Kiviharju said in an interview with TV5.
– I’m not going to say more than that, but maybe something could have gone the other way, said Nurmi of the refereeing.
The Finnish team fancied a place in the semi-finals.
– It feels great, great to play in the World Cup semi-final. On Friday, we return to Saturday’s strike. Yes, this team is ready to go to the final, Nurmi rejoiced.