The second game of the day on Friday, August 1, at the World Junior Summer Showcase was between Finland and the United States. They’d had some heated games earlier in the week, but today’s game was a bit more reserved. Jack Parsons was in the net for the USA, but halfway through the game, he swapped with Kam Hendrickson while Petteri Rimpinen was in the net for Finland.
Related: 3 Takeaways From Day 4 of Games at World Juniors Summer Showcase
The game started out very equal, with each team having strong possessions until Finland got the early lead. It stayed pretty close throughout the first period, but it blew open in the second period with Finland taking a three-goal lead into the third. The United States tried to climb back, but Finland shut them down and came out with the 6-3 win.
Game Recap
It was a pretty back-and-forth game to start, but in the latter half of the first period, Finland’s Aatos Koivu scored to put his team up 1-0. The lone assist went to Joona Saarelainen. There were some close calls following that goal, but nothing else made it in, and Finland ended the period with a 1-0 lead.
The second period took a turn in Finland’s direction as they scored three goals while USA only put up one. The first Finland goal of the period was scored by Jasper Kuhta; he was assisted by Matias Vanhanen and Daniel Nieminen to make it 2-0. The scoring settled down for a little while until Finland scored again, this time it was Koivu with his second of the game and first on the power play. He was assisted by Mitja Jokinen and Saarelainen to make it 3-0.
The United States answered back just over 20 seconds later on a goal by Will Moore to make it 3-1. He was assisted by EJ Emery and Mac Swanson. That was the only goal for the USA in that period, as Finland responded over two minutes later with a goal by Saarelinen to extend their lead to 4-1. He was assisted by Nieminen and Vanhanen, and that’s how the period ended with Finland in the lead.
USA scored just 36 seconds into the third period on the power play to make it a two-goal game. The goal was scored by LJ Mooney; he was assisted by Logan Hensler and Cole Eiserman to make it 4-2 in favor of Finland. That two-goal difference didn’t last long as Finland scored less than two minutes later to make it 5-2. The goal was tallied by Vanhanen; he was assisted by Kasper Pikkaranen, and Nieminen recorded his third assist of the day.
They added another goal by Kuhta, this time on the power play, to make it 6-2. He was assisted by Vanhanen and Nieminen. The United States added one more goal in the final minutes to get within three. The goal was scored by Will Zellers, and the single assist went to Cole McKinney. It wasn’t enough, however, as Finland took the 6-3 win.
Both teams will be back in action on the final day of the showcase, Saturday, August 2, with Finland facing their Nordic counterparts, Sweden, in the first game. Canada and the US will follow in the afternoon, in the finale to the showcase.
