Ice hockey-Finland reaches the quarterfinals with a comeback win over Sweden
BEIJING, February 13 (Reuters) – Finland made a fantastic comeback to defeat local rivals Sweden 4-3 in overtime in a punishing Group C battle to take first place and a place in the quarterfinals of men’s ice hockey in the Beijing Olympics tournament.
After 3-0 on the way into the third period, the Finns converted on back-to-back powerplay chances before a sneak peek under Swedish goalkeeper Magnus Hellberg’s legs leveled for the Sochi bronze medalists and forward Harri Pesonen snatched the victory in extra time.
“When you lose 3-0, it’s not easy to come back, especially to score three goals in a period, it’s quite nice to win the match in overtime,” said Finnish forward Iiro Pakarinen, who scored two of his three goals in the third period. .
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“It’s always like that against Sweden, it’s always tight matches. It’s fun to play against a rival.”
It was an astonishing turn of luck after forward Markus Granlund was thrown out of the match in the second period for elbowing a Swedish defender in the head when the Nordic neighbors renewed their tough rivalry.
Tournament officials in Beijing said Granlund could face further discipline.
TWO-SENSATION SENSATION
Earlier on Sunday, teenager Juraj Slafkovsky helped Slovakia to its first victory with a 5-2 victory over Latvia.
The 17-year-old, who is widely expected to be one of the top picks in this year’s National Hockey League (NHL) draft, scored his fourth goal of the tournament and accounted for half of Slovakia’s total play in the first three matches.
“Before the tournament, if someone were to tell (me) that I would score even one or two goals, I would laugh, but it actually happens,” said Slafkovsky, who is now the tournament’s top scorer.
“My linemates play really well and they may not have the points but those little things on the ice they do are amazing.”
The team exchanged goals in a tight first period before forward Peter Cehlarik whipped the puck into the net to put Slovakia in the lead in the second and Slafkovsky increased to their advantage.
Latvia’s forward Miks Indrasis tipped the puck into the net early in the third period to reduce the deficit, but Slovakia then scored two more goals, including one in the empty net at the last second.
“I try to convince them that we can beat anyone,” said head coach Craig Ramsay. “I think we can beat anyone if we just play our game and play as a team.”
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Reporting by Amy Tennery in Beijing, further reporting by Steve Keating; Edited by Peter Rutherford and Ken Ferris
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