Bemström is Sweden’s shootout hero
Sweden had two new faces in their team for Wednesday’s clash. Jacob Peterson, a 22-year-old from Lidköping, ended up on the top line on his international debut for seniors. He arrived in Tampere after the end of the Dallas Stars playoff campaign. In the same way, the 24-year-old center Carl Grundström came in after the Kings bowed. He went to the fourth line when Sweden iced 12 forwards for the first time in this tournament.
Finland has not yet filled its remaining roster spots, but had to contend with the absence of Saku Maenalanen, suspended for this match. Jukka Jalonen refrained from making major changes and contented himself with moving the one-time Ilves youngster Toni Rajala to the second line together with Joel Armia and Valtteri Filppula.
When the game settled into its rhythm, it became clear that Sweden was happy to take a page from Leijonat’s playbook. Tre Kronor was content to relinquish territory and possession, convinced that its well-drilled defense could keep Finland at bay.
It worked for a while. Sweden’s counterattacks caused concern, not least when Max Friberg’s wraparound attempt almost fooled the Finnish defense. Ville Pokka chased around the hill and opened a way for Friberg to attack, but the Frolunda forward could not angle his cane far enough to get a shot beyond Sateri and the puck sprayed to safety in the corner.
Finland’s powerful power play has been a feature of the tournament so far: six goals and a conversion rate of 40% make it a formidable weapon. So when the home team got their first chance with an extra man, it became a free kick of excitement around the arena. Sakari Manninen gave Teemu Hartikainen a good chance to score, but his shot hit the post from Magnus Hellberg; the influential Mikael Granlund was silenced but a somewhat diligent Swedish criminal murder.
After going close with a wraparound attempt, Sweden took the lead with another. It all started with Friberg cutting off a Finnish approval and launching a new offensive. In the second phase of that attack, Peterson released the puck for Larsson, who stormed around the back before throwing the puck inside Saterri’s far post to open the scoring.
For a time, the bulk of a capacity crowd in the Nokia Arena was subdued and Oscar Lang threatened to darken the mood further when he fired a shot over Sateri’s glove and off the crossbar at the start of the second period.
Soon the mood changed. In the middle of all the talk about Granlund’s efforts since arriving in Tampere, the points made by defender Lehtonen have passed relatively unnoticed. Here he added two in two minutes and equalized the match with a speculative shot that Hellberg could only escort into his own net before assisting on Sami Vatan’s green light. Lehtonen was the only man on the ice who saw his defensive partner on the way to the back door, and Zurich Lions’ new signing produced an inch-perfect pass to divide the Swedish defense and give Vatanen a gift-wrapped opportunity.
“We talked about it before the play with Sami, that he would try the back door and I would give it to him,” Lehtonen said.
That took Lehtonen to 6 (2 + 4) points for the tournament and he has been involved in six of Finland’s last eight goals. Lehtonen’s great offensive effort continued and created almost a third goal with a shot that was too hot for Hellberg to handle. Juho Lammikko was the first to return, which led to a mass suction around the Swedish net when the defense held on.
“We have to put those pucks in the net when we have the chance,” Lehtonen admitted. “That’s how we can bury the game, that’s the most important thing. Otherwise, we just need to keep doing what we do.”
Sweden wavered, but did not fall. The guest hit back in the third period and equalized to 46:38. Erik Gustafsson’s point shot drew a superb tip from Kellman, who with the most skilful touch steered the puck beyond Sateri to resurrect the Swedish part of the audience.
“First of all, it was a good outburst,” said Växjö Laker about his goal. “We got a 3-on-1 and then a good shot from Erik [Gustafsson] on blueline, who found me in front. It was a big goal to get the match a draw. I think we did a good job in the third period. “
From that moment on, the two teams fought against each other to a standstill. Halfway into the third period, Kellman came to the bang with Marko Anttila and the pair picked up roughing minors. At the same time, the better chances for Sweden fell, especially in the closing seconds when Lang almost found a way through the Finnish defense just to find Sateri’s pillows. Then, with the last meaningful game of the match, Henrik Tomernes fired a shot that ricocheted to safety when the Swedish fans gave their team a standing ovation in the final moments of the regulation.
The extra time could not separate the teams, with Hartikainen closest to breaking zero in the final minute of extra time. But this one was destined to go all the way to punishment before Sweden got a narrow opinion and moved to the top of the group.