Finland see off late Germany challenge to start World Hockey Championship with win

[p]Going beyond the Quarter-finals for the first time since [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/finland/rRWMzYQu/"]Finland[/a] last won the competition in 2022 is the aim, and a win over a challenging [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/germany/vgQVYBeh/"]Germany[/a] side in the first match of Group A will serve as a real boost for [i]Leijonat[/i].[/p][p]The match opened up in the eighth minute when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kastner-maximilian/UZZ5ZTUA/"]Maximilian Kastner[/a] was called for tripping, and Finland made full use of the first powerplay a minute later when, after [b]a sustained period of attack resulted in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/teravainen-teuvo/zDf1WNkK/"]Teuvo Teravainen[/a] finding [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lundell-anton/zTGkWBJP/"]Anton Lundell[/a] in the middle, and he made use of a pocket of space to fire home.[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/manninen-sakari/nirlBvj2/"]Sakari Manninen[/a] was called for interference soon after, and having survived the powerplay Finland were back on top, but failed to double their lead before the end of a first period in which they had 10 shots on goal to the Germans' six.[/p][p]Indiscipline continued to be Finland's downfall in the second period as they failed to press home their advantage - they had too many men on the ice in the first minute, before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/matinpalo-nikolas/4jyLx5bL/"]Nikolas Matinpalo[/a] served two minutes for slashing and another four for high-sticking.[/p][p]Those penalties came after the best chance of the middle period, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/merela-waltteri/xt3CAN68/"]Waltteri Merala[/a] poked the puck past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/grubauer-philipp/bDrJxh6t/"]Philipp Grubauer[/a], but [b]somehow [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/seider-moritz/WE81PkCT/"]Moritz Seider[/a] turned and swept the puck off the line[/b] in what was a remarkable piece of defending.[/p][embed guid="9ddb2ca9-2e9d-4d19-8136-a32fca56f0b5" url="https://x.com/IIHFHockey/status/2055326107704983910" social-type="twitter" /][p]After Germany failed to equalise on any of their four powerplays, Finland punished them again when they conceded their second. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/eder-andreas/tb1kHpS3/"]Andreas Eder[/a] was called for interference, and with just over three minutes played in the third, [b]Teravainen played the puck right across and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/puljujarvi-jesse/MwEaYVEO/"]Jesse Puljujarvi[/a] tucked it away.[/b][/p][p]Germany finally got on the board five minutes later, when an excellent [b]one-two saw [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gawanke-leon/8tVmBc24/"]Leon Gawanke[/a] tee up [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/loibl-stefan/EyaGMB5H/"]Stefan Loibl[/a] for a clean finish[/b], but just when the [i]Bearers of the Eagle [/i]looked to be mounting a comeback, Finland killed the game off in the final five minutes.[/p][p]The Germans failed to clear their zone and allowed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/maenalanen-saku/WKihHw6h/"]Saku Maenalanen[/a] to wrestle possession back. He wasted no time in shovelling to [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/raty-aatu/hQ2YUhqG/"]Aatu Raty[/a], and his quick shot from in front sealed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/hockey/finland-rRWMzYQu/germany-vgQVYBeh/?mid=Srhwh45k"]a 3-1 victory.[/a][/b][/p][embed guid="8bef3927-5a17-47fe-a956-9ae3cac94373" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olLSR054A6c" social-type="youtube" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pihlstrom-antti/KO6JURPj/"]Antti Pennanen[/a]'s team will be aiming to stay top of the group on 16th May when they face [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/hungary/fBiWomPG/"]Hungary[/a], while Germany will be hoping to get off the mark the following day against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/latvia/44JaYkQ4/"]Latvia[/a].[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/hockey/world/world-championship-2026/"]Follow every match of the 2026 Ice Hockey World Championship on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]