(Gothenburg) Germany achieved an unprecedented feat in its participation in the World Junior Hockey Championship on Wednesday, defeating Finland by a score of 4-3.
According to statistics from the International Ice Hockey Federation (FIHG), Finland had a perfect record of 25 wins and no losses against Germany at the World Junior Championship since 1977.
In its 25 victories, again according to the FIHG, Finland had amassed 141 goals and had only given up 31.
Following their 5-2 loss to Canada, the Finns directed 43 shots at goaltender Philipp Dietl and allowed 28 to their rivals.
However, back-to-back goals from Roman Kechter and Veit Oswald – his second of the game – scored within a 91-second span in the second period gave the Germans a 4-3 lead, which they held on to.
In the loss, Samu Bau led Finland with a goal and an assist.
Earlier in the day, goaltender Adam Gajan blocked all 36 shots he faced, Montreal Canadiens prospect Filip Mesar had another assist and Slovakia posted a 3-0 victory over Switzerland.
According to the FIHG website, this is the first time since 2002 that Slovakia has started this competition with two consecutive victories. On Tuesday, the Slovaks dominated the Czech Republic 6-2.
Mesar collected his assist – his third since the start of the tournament – on Peter Repcik’s insurance goal, scored into an empty net at 18:19 of the third period.
Servac Petrovsky scored another goal into an empty net 53 seconds later. It was already his third goal of the tournament.
Repcik earned an assist on the eventual winning goal, scored by Samuel Honzek at 8:33 of the first period against goalkeeper Alessio Beglieri.
The Slovaks won even though they were limited to 20 shots towards the rival net.
In another game on Wednesday, Jiri Kulich and Eduard Sale each scored three goals as the Czech Republic crushed Norway 8-1.
Furthermore, the Disciplinary Committee of the World Junior Hockey Championship imposed a one-match suspension on Swedish defender Elias Salomonsson for an action made in the first seconds of the match against Latvia.
Salomonsson, a second-round pick of the Winnipeg Jets in 2022, violently shoved Emils Veckaktins in the ramp, near the center line, while the Latvia forward had his back turned.
Salomonsson, who was ejected from the match following his actions, will miss his team’s game on Thursday against Germany.
