Olli Määttä & Mikael Granlund react to nervous win over Denmark

Finland is not out of the woods yet – they still probably need at least a point in Group A’s final game on Tuesday night – but their task is much easier than if they hadn’t beaten Denmark in regulation time on Monday night. If they’d lost, the outlook would be been very bleak.

And through two periods, despite outshooting Denmark 24-12, the score remained 0-0.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4F495UtUnc[/embed]

“I think we were a little nervous at the beginning,” said defenseman Olli Määttä. “Obviously, it was a big game for us. But as the game went on, we relaxed a bit, started playing our game a little better, execution was better, and in the third period we took over.”

“We just had to keep going,” said captain Mikael Granlund. “We were getting our chances and we knew we would continue to get them in the third period, we did, and we found a way to win the game.”

Each team had an apparent goal called back for goaltender interference. In the dying seconds of the middle frame, Granlund led a great solo rush into the Danish zone and the puck ended up in the net with a crowd of players in the vicinity.

“I actually didn’t see it that well,” Määttä shrugged. “Obviously, we didn’t challenge it, so I’m sure it was a fine call.”

“I have my thoughts on that but they said no goal, so let’s stick with that,” Granlund said diplomatically.

It took just 3:26 for Finland to get on the board in the third period, and then 1:37 later, it was 2-0.

“The was our best period, for sure,” said Määttä. “We didn’t give them time or space to get out of their zone. We kept the puck and got some scoring chances and finally scored a goal, and I think that opened it up a little bit.”

Hannes Björninen scored the first goal, a rebound off the end boards off a point shot by Jesper Mattila, with Määttä drawing the second assist.

“I think that line was great for us the whole game,” Määttä said of Björninen, Pekka Jormakka and Saku Maenalainen. “They were winning 50-50 puck battles close to the net there, we got it to the point and shot it back down, and those dirty areas where you score the goals, they’re not afraid to go there and we finally got rewarded.”

The Finns eventually won 3-1 and can now look ahead to what will probably be another huge game against Switzerland tomorrow. A point will get them into the quarterfinals for sure, but if Great Britain does them a favour and takes a point from Austria in Tuesday’s early game, they’ll be in before their game even starts.

“We’ve got to have a better start than today,” said Määttä. “But we like to play those games. Switzerland is an awesome team, you know it’s going to be a tight game, and that kind of gets you up for it. It’s a do-or-die game for us, just like every game from now on, and I think those are the best game you can play.”

“They’re a great team, they’ve got world-class players there, so it’s going to be a really big challenge for us,” said Granlund. “You just love to play those games – real hockey games – and we’re all excited about that.”