In the Nordic battle between Finland and Norway, Finland walked away with the victory 6-1 (3-0, 0-0, 3-1) as expected. But the Norwegians fought well against a dominant Finland, who is now through to the semi-finals.

It was a must-win match for the Finns, when they met Norway in the Nordic quarter-final. Finland took control of the game and kept it for the entire match. But Norway fought well in the first period, even if Finland scored 3 goals. Norway had a chance at a goal, and Finland got lucky with the bounce on the 3-0 goal.

The Finns’ dominance continued in the second period even though they did not score despite some great chances. They were unfocused and Christer Rönnmark, the Norwegian goalkeeper, was on fire. The period ended 0-0 although Norway had two very close shots on goal.

Norway scored in the third period. The Captain, Ketil Kronberg, scored on a free hit after four minutes and Norway was back in the game. They started creating more chances and put pressure on the Finns. But five minutes later, they missed Rickie Hyvärinen who got free in front of the goal and could score 4-1 to Finland. Oscar Hanninen and Mika Kohonen also scored before the end of the match. Finland is therefore through to the semi-finals.  

Full match statistics here.

Photo: Rasmus Tynander.