Swiss open OT shocked by Finns
In the pre-tournament exhibition game, the Swiss made surprisingly good results after a 6-0 loss to host Canada. They beat the Czech Republic 4-2 on December 22 and Sweden 4-3 in overtime the next day, raising optimism among Swiss fans. Hard work and good structure made it possible for them to shock Finland in the opener.
Asked when the Swiss realized they could win this game, Taibel said, “I think from the first second, because we knew we could trust our system. Our system is really good. We can play against every opponent. It was just a good game.”
Under the leadership of new head coach Tomi Lamsa, the Finns are aiming for their sixth World Youth Championship title. They previously won this tournament in 1987, 1998, 2014, 2016 and 2019. They came heartbreakingly close to a gold medal at the 2022 World Juniors in Edmonton, losing the final 3-2 to Canada in overtime. The Finns also took bronze in 2020.
However, based on this game, Finland has a lot of room for improvement.
“I thought we played scared to win,” said Finland’s Brad Lambert, who was making his third World Cup appearance. “We didn’t attack enough. We didn’t win enough one-on-ones. We didn’t have enough puck. We just didn’t play fast enough. You know, we’re faster than them, but we played too slow, too cautious, and it cost us.”
After a tightly played, scoreless first period, Konsta Kapanen gave Finland the lead at 2:24 in the second period. The son of former 831-game NHL player Sami Kapanen went to the net to claim the rebound from Vaisanen’s rush when Pasche was unable to control the puck with his glove.
Switzerland was not going to go quietly. A few seconds after the Swiss killed the first Finnish man advantage, Taibel battled Aleksi Heimosalmi’s check behind the net and fed the puck to Canonical, whose high shot bulged the wire to make it 1-1 at 12:54 of the middle frame.
In the third period, the Finns’ sloppy defensive play allowed Switzerland to take a 2-1 lead at 4:43. Defenseman Otto Salin couldn’t hold on to the puck as Swiss forward Mats Alge rushed past him to sweep. The puck squeezed through Koskenvuo and Jabola hit the unguarded puck.
After an ineffective Finnish man advantage, Vaisanen scored the equalizing goal with a great effort at 8:09. The 2021 fourth-round pick of the New York Rangers came off the left sideboard and fired a wrister from the edge of the faceoff circle that whistled past Pasche’s blocker. In his second Liiga season, Vaisanen has scored three goals in 27 matches with TPS Turku.
But it was Finland’s last chance to celebrate Boxing Day. With this result. Finland’s all-time youth World Cup record against Switzerland drops to 23 wins and six losses.
“We have a long way to go,” said Lambert. “It’s just one game. We’ve got to look at tomorrow and watch the video and see what we did wrong and improve on that for tomorrow.”
Finland returns to the matter on Tuesday with a new showdown against Slovakia. The Swiss will face Latvia on the same evening.