– Yes, it will sink in one day, Finnish goalkeeper Emil Larmi laughed at his good attempt to score a goal in the Swiss net.
Emil Larmi was the guarantor of Finland’s victory. Picture from last spring’s World Championships. Kimmo Brandt / AOP
- Thanks to its strong final set, Finland won 4–2 (0–1, 1–0, 3–1).
- Larmi played in the last seconds of the second period without a stick and wobbled on his side on the ice in many directions, but stretched out to make a phantom-class save.
Emil Larmi was able to try to hit an empty net at the end, when Switzerland looked for a goal without a goalkeeper. It was close, but the high arcing puck ended up sliding half a meter off the wrong side of the post.
– Yes, a win is a win and that’s the nicest thing, Larmi reminded of the 4–2 numbers on the light board.
The 27-year-old goalkeeper has not yet managed to score a goal in his career, and hits on the molars are rare.
– Of course it would have been fun if it had crashed, but now it went like this and we just enjoy the victory.
Finland’s scary beginning
Right at the start of the match, Switzerland got two possessions in the attack area due to bad opening passes by the Finnish defenders and as a result two perfect open positions.
Larmi was able to parry the first one, but not the second one.
– The game brings what it brings. As a goalkeeper, I really can’t choose what comes out there. Let’s accept what the game offers, Larmi summed up Finland’s terrible start.
– Sometimes it’s like that, and sometimes nothing comes of it. It’s nice that at least something happens, that you can get into the feeling, he continued to discuss the hair-raising situations from the goalkeeper’s point of view.
Of course, the perspective of coaching would be different.
– I myself had a little hesitation in that first goal, Larmi took by Thierry Bader the opening goal to his own goal.
It was already overemphasized self-criticism, because Bader was able to put the puck in the backpack without disturbing anyone.
Instead, Switzerland’s 3–2 reduction in 53.40 would have been preventable by Larmi on a perfect day.
– It definitely would have been. Let’s do those little things a little better, he said.
by Marc Marchon at the end of a direct attack, the shot with an accurate shot slipped from the side of the shield to the foot of the rear post.
However, it was only a small minus in Larmi’s evening speech. Overall, his contribution to the win was significant.
“Ketarats at rest”
Finland needed the goalkeeper’s top skills the most in the last minutes of the second period, when the numbers were 1-1 and Switzerland had its search time. After Finland’s strong period of possession, it got on top of the game and created a few luxury scoring opportunities.
In the last seconds of the set, Switzerland pressed on with superiority and Larmi lost his racket. What followed was the goalkeeper’s so-called standing on his head, when Larmi bounced on his side on the ice in any direction and was finally able to pull off an amazing glove save.
– As stated, sometimes the game offers what the game offers, Larmi recounted the situation himself, amused by his arrangement.
– There was a bit of a hassle, and it was known that it was going to the very last seconds. Somehow you have to get the fight out of the moment. I don’t even remember how the situation got to that point: the molar was loose and bounced in every direction.
– Then when there is nothing else left, we’ll try to come up with something, Larmi said about the already desperate waving of the glove.
The fight was worth it, and Finland was able to build a victorious final set from even numbers.
World Cup goal
Larmi, who won the championship in Sweden last year and fought off the league leader of the Växjön SHL this season, is seriously fighting for a place in the spring World Cup team.
In last spring’s World Cup home games, he played in Finland’s goal.
The Swedish tournament is Larmi’s first at EHT this season. He wants to make the most of the important screen space.
– It’s always a big dream to be in that final group, but there’s still a long season left. Yes, that is definitely the goal, he said about the World Championships in Prague.
Stay efficient
Finland’s goal scorers in the match against Switzerland played in Karlskoga were Eemil Erholtz, Juha Jääskä, Oliver Kaski and Niko Huuhtanen. Jääskä (1+1) was the most effective of the match, and Patrik Puistola scored two goals.
The tournament continues in Karlstad, where Finland will meet the Czech Republic on Saturday at 1 pm and Sweden on Sunday at 5 pm. The times are Finnish time.