Finns Win Karjala Cup At Home After Comeback Over Sweden
With a 5-4 come-from-behind win over Nordic rival Sweden, Finland won the Karjala Cup on home ice in Helsinki. For recaps of the first two days of the tournament, read here for Thursday and here for Saturday.
The Karjala Cup was the first leg of the 2024-25 Euro Hockey Tour, with all four competing teams hosting one tournament over the course of the season. The next leg will be Dec. 12 to 15 in Fribourg, Switzerland, with one opening-night game to be played in Finland. The standings are cumulative.
Czechia 5 – Switzerland 2 (3-1, 2-1, 0-0)
The Czechs got two points each from Ondřej Beránek, Jáchym Kondelík and Martin Kaut, while Mike Künzle had two points for Switzerland.
With the score tied 1-1, the Czechs struck twice in the last three minutes of the first period. After 41-year-old Andres Ambühl got one back for Switzerland, two more quick Czech goals late in the second put the game away.
“We knew the Swiss would not be an easy opponent at all – they didn’t lose to Finland or Sweden in regulation time,” said Czech coach Radim Rulik. “We appealed to the team to respond to Saturday's loss, and they responded well. We went for the win from the start. Although they made it 3-2, the 4-2 and 5-2 goals were key.”
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsnXXwx8YfQ[/embed]
Finland 5 – Sweden 4 (0-2, 3-1, 2-1)
After beating Switzerland, the Czechs led the tournament with six points and were in a position to win the tournament if Finland lost in regulation time. That looked like it was going to happen when Sweden took a 2-0 first-period lead. However, the Finns responded with three straight goals in the second period.
Tied 4-4 with under six minutes to play, a Toni Rajala blast from the point was blocked in front, but Mikael Ruohomaa found the loose puck in the slot and banged it home. It was Ruohomaa’s second goal of the game. Harri Pesonen also scored two goals for Finland, along with one assist in a three-point game. Emil Pettersson and Victor Söderström led Sweden with three and two points respectively.
Pesonen’s three-point performance gave the SCL Tigers left winger and former New Jersey Devil a tournament-leading six points over three games. Linemate Rajala, who also plays in Switzerland for EHC Biel-Bienne, was second with five points. Ruohomaa and Sweden’s Oskar Lang had four points each.
Czechs Daniel Gazda – who scored twice against Sweden on Thursday – and Filip Pyrochta and Swede Söderström led all defensemen in the tournament with three points each.