Finland routs Slovenia, 9-1

There was a time when games against lower ranked teams could be difficult for Finland, but the 2025 edition made sure there was never any doubt of the winner in their game against Slovenia. They grabbed control of the game early on, and the final score, 9-1, says it all.Eeli Tolvanen scored four goals for Finland, including a second-period hat trick, Teuvo Teravainen collected six assists. Teravainen ties the single-game record set by Czechoslovakia's Jiri Holik on March 31, 1973 in a 14-1 win over Poland.“Can't remember the last time I scored four goals in a game. It was an important win, and a good game for our line and the team," Tolvanen said.Less than three minutes into the game, Eemil Erholtz had the puck behind the Slovenian net. He looked up and saw defenseman Lehtonen take a few steps in. The puck landed on the tape for Lehtonen, who beat Pintaric high on the blocker side to give Finland a 1-0 lead in the game."We wanted to make sure we got off to a great start, and we got it today, and maybe that also took the edge off their game," said Tolvanen.In his next shift, Lehtonen did a give-and-go with Teuvo Teravainen close to the blueline, and when Lehtonen got the puck, he fired a wrister from the slot and beat Pintaric for the second time in the game, now on the glove side, to make it 2-0 at 7.26.After Lehtonen’s two goals, it was another defenseman who scored Finland’s third goal. Patrik Puistola sent Lenni Hameenaho on a partial breakaway, and he cleverly found Vili Saarijarvi storming up the ice, and he fired a wrister top shelf to make it 3-0 with 8.27 remaining in the period.“It was only 3-0 after the first, and we told each other we needed more energy, and we did get thje 3-1 goal. They were just faster than us, and won all the battles. We have to forget this one and move on. Of course, you can always learn something from this one, too,” said Slovenia's Miha StebihHameenaho, 21, is the youngest player on Team Finland, playing in his first Ice Hockey World Championship, just like Jan-Mikael Jarvinen, who coach Antti Pennanen had added to the lineup. The move was historic as the 37-year-old forward became the oldest skater to make his Ice Hockey World Championship debut in the modern era. At the 1947 tournament. Romania’s Andrei Barbulescu played against Sweden at 37, 126 days old, compared with Jarvinen’s 37 years and 78 days.(Interestingly, Barbulescu also played football at the 1938 World Cup for Romania.)“i think the fact that he got his chance also loosened up the team a little bit, and made the atmospehere in the dressing room lighter. I'm really happy for him," said Hameenaho, Jarvinen's teammate in the Finnish league.Juuse Saros’s shutout attempt came to an end exactly four minutes into the second period when Jan Drozg led Finnish defense, but Saros could make the save. He found 96 in the slot, and even Saros couldn’t stop Slovenia from scoring.That goal woke up Finland, and just 2.52 later, Juho Lammikko won an offensive zone faceoff to Teravainen who circled back toward the Slovenian net and found Eeli Tolvanen wide open at the back door where he had an easy job to tap it in and make it a three-goal game again at 6.52.Another 100 seconds later, it was a four-goal game. Waltteri Merela and Juuso Parssinen set up Hameenaho in the slot and he fired a slapper that beat Pintaric at 8.32 Slovenia made a goalie change, and Lukas Horek skated to the net.Toward the end of the period, the game was played only in the Slovenian zone. After another long cycle play, Teravainen sent a long, cross-ice pass to Tolvanen who tiptoed to the front of the net and made it 6-1 with a cool backhander, at 15.42Tolvanen finished his second-period hat trick by going coast to coast and firing a gorgeous wrister top shelf at 19.35, to make it 7-1.Finland opened even the third period strong. Just 2.28 into the period, Nikolas Matinpalo joined the rush and fired what was probably one of the hardest shots of the tournament from the top of the right circle to make it 8-1. Teravainen picked up his fifth assist of the game.But they weren't done yet. With seven minutes remaining, the Teravainen-Tolvanen duo put on a repeat show in which Tolvanen cycled the puck to the blueline, sent it down to Teravainen whose saucer pass landed on Tolvanen's tape at the back door, and it was 9-1 at 12.54.“Teuvo had a pretty good day, I don’t think he missed a pass today. You have to be ready at all times playing with him, he can make plays that others can't even see," Tolvanen said.“We skated and moved the puck well, and had those long cycles until someone was wide open at the back door," he added.Many times that someone was him.

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