Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Topi Niemela picked up an assist in a losing cause as Finland wrapped up preliminary-round action at the 2022 World Juniors.
Canada showed why they are one of the teams to beat at the summer edition of the 2022 World Junior Championship.
They scored the first three goals of the game in the first period, including a goal and an assist from Connor Bedard, as they defeated the Finland 6-3 to finish undefeated in Group A.
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Topi Niemela finished with an assist in the game, although it probably shouldn’t have counted.
With Canada up 5-1 in the third period, Finland’s Joakim Kemell scored a goal seconds after the puck seemingly went out of play before dropping back onto the ice.
Several replays showed players from both teams stop playing when they assumed the puck hit the mesh above the glass. But the whistle never blew and Finland played on.
Officials met for a lengthy review after Canada challenged the play. The goal stood due to a lack of view evidence.
An odd wrinkle in this was that Canada was not issued a minor penalty buy the referees for losing the challenge.
The Finns had the door open to make a game shortly after the goal as Canada’s Will Cuylle received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for kneeing Finland’s Juuse Maenpaa. They were unable to take advantage, failing to register a single shot on goal for the final four minutes of the major.
The game served as a bit of a wake up call to both Niemela and fellow Leafs prospect Roni Hirvonen who were overwhelmed by the loaded talent of the Canadians.
Niemela, Toronto’s third-round pick (64th overall) at the 2020 NHL Draft, logged 22:57 of ice time and had just one shot on goal.
Hirvonen, Toronto’s second-round pick (59th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft, logged 18:57 of ice time and registered one shot on goal.
Next stop for Finland is the quarterfinals where they square off against Germany on Wednesday at 12p.m. ET.
Further Reading
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Leafs Prospect Knies Delivers Hits, Offense in Best Game at World Juniors