NUREMBERG, Germany - Finland kept their perfect record intact by beating Slovakia 5-2 at the world ice hockey championships last Wednesday to close the preliminary round at the top of Group B. While both teams had already qualified, the game was crucial to determine the seeding with the winners gaining an extra day‘s rest before the next round starting on Friday. After a scoreless first period, Slovakia struck first with Phoenix Coyotes winger Ladislav Nagy scoring a power play goal four minutes into the second period.
Just over a minute later Finland notched a power play goal of their own as Carolina Hurricanes winger Sami Kapanen drove home a shot after a nice set up by Petteri Nummelin. Marko Kiprusoff made it 2-1 halfway through the period and the Finns — 3-0 during the preliminary round — never looked back. Ottawa Senators defenseman Sami Salo, Nika Kapanen and Timo Parssinen ran the score to 5-1 before Robert Petrovicky got one back seven minutes from the end.
„Finland is a strong team and you can‘t give them chances. That‘s what we knew going into the game and that‘s where we paid tonight,“ said Slovak coach Jan Filc.
Reuters
