Finland Set For Canadian Showdown After Defeating Slovakia

The game didn't provide much action, but Finland won't care in the slightest as their 5-0 win over Slovakia gives them a perfect record after six games.

While the two games earlier in the day featured dramatic finishes with surprise winners, the afternoon match-up between the Finns and the Slovaks saw poetntially the slowest start of the tournament. Slovakia had five shots in the first period, but that still managed to beat Finland's two after a very slow first 20 minutes.

The second period wasn't much better. The two teams still hadn't been able to hit double digits after half the game, but it did feature lots of long stretches of play. Each team had about one good chance each in the first half, with Mikael Granlund getting very close after beating Julius Hudacek's five hole. Hudacek did do a good job of recovering, however, closing his legs fast enough before it could have trickled over the line to keep the game scoreless.

It took 31 minutes for the first team to hit double digit shots, but it was a successful one at that. Minnesota Wild centreman Mikko Koivu took advantage of a Finnish power play, shooting the puck towards the net, only to have a Slovakian defender deflect the shot past Julius Hudacek and in for the 1-0 lead.

40 seconds after that, Finland scored once again. This time, Tomi Sallinen dump-in was won by speedy skater Antti Pihlström in a race to the puck. Pihlström faked a shot on the play, but was able to fake out Hudacek and deke him instead to give Finland the 2-0 advantage after a slow start to the contest.

Slovakia looked defeated, and after Finland's third goal, their defeat looked complete. This time, Juuso Hietanen took a nice wrist shot from the point, only to have Alex Barkov get his stick in the air to tip the puck past Hudacek and in for the 3-0 goal. Jussi Jokinen and Patrik Laine both added goals in the final 15 seconds of the game, helping Finland to a big 5-0 victory and give Juuse Saros his third straight shutout (every game he has ever played for the men's team) for the Finnish men's team.

Finland will compete for a chance to overcome Canada for first in Group B when the two teams meet to finish the tournament on Tuesday. Slovakia, meanwhile, will look for the final spot in the quarter-finals when they beat with the reigning bronze medalists from the United States in the early game on Tuesday.

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