France had only one win over Finland in the IIHF Ioce Hockey World Championship history, a 5-1 win from 2017. They still have one, after a bitter OT loss, 4-3.
Eeli Tolvanen scored two in the final two minutes of reguilation time and assisted Juuso Parssinen's game-winner. The Bozon brothers, Tim and Kevin, scored one each, Antoine Keller made 47 saves for France.
"France played a great game," said Parssinen. "They defended well, everybody can skate and battle these days and the games get tough if you don't bury your chances."
"Again. we found a way to lose a game, it¨'s very frustrating," said Tim Bozon. "It was nice to see Kevins core his first Ice Hockey World Championship goal, he's got a more defensive role on this team:"
It was Finland that had the game in their grasp. Especially the line with Teuvo Teravainen created several chances but with some skill, and some luck, the French managed to keep the Finns off the board.
The shot statistics paint a fairly accurate picture of the Finnish domination. Finland outshot France 19-1 in the first period.
Whatever the French coach Yorick Treille – who has 13 Ice Hockey World Championships under his belt as a player – said during the first intermission, it worked. The French came to the second period, determined to play, and to play for a win.
They got an excellent opportunity when Finland’s Juuso Parssinen got a double minor for high sticking, and while the French had trouble establishing their power play during the first two minutes, the second two went much better.
Then the Bozon Bros stepped up, Tim Bozon won a puck battle near the boards on the left side of the Finnish zone, and he sent a long cross-ice pass to Kevin Spinozzi who fired the puck, and when Larmi left a rebound, Kevin Bozon slammed it in to give France the lead in the game at 8.01.
The longer the period progressed, the more Finland took over, and halfway through the period, they kept France in their own zone for minutes, and while Finland could make line changes, the French players, stuck in their zone, got tired.
Finally, Teuvo Teravainen’s wrister from the blue line surprised Keller who didn’t see the puck until it hit the post and went in, to tie the game at 17.33.
Halfway through the period, the French were on a powerplay again, and even though they never really got set up in the Finnish zone, Jordann Perret found Tim Bozon all alone in front of the net, and while Larmi made the initial save, Bozon could shovel the puck topshelf to make it 2-1 at 10.57.
Finland pulled Larmi with three minutes remaining, and after the first faceoff Perrett got the puck out of the zone and flipped a high backhander that landed in the middle of the Finnish goal for 3-1.
But the Finns kept on battling. With 1.33 remaining, Eeli Tolvanen slammed in a rebound from the doorstep, to keep Finland within striking distance. And they used it.
Tolvanen scored his second with 28 seconds remaining with a wrist shot, assisted by Mikko Lehtonen and Teravainen to tie the game at three.
"They defended well, but we got some good chances in the third period. We stayed patient and the last two minutes we got the goals,” said Lenni Hameenaho.
In the OT, the Finns had possession of the puck iand Parssinen scored the winner with a cool backhande through Keller's five-hole to make the Finnish comeback complete.
“In some way, this shows character, but in the end, we lost yesterday and got just one point today. Everybody needs points, so it's still an important point for us,” France’s defenseman Pierre Crinon said.
This website or its third party tools use cookies, which are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the cookie policy. If you want to know more or withdraw your consent to all or some of the cookies, please refer to the Cookie Policy . By closing this banner, scrolling this page, clicking a link or continuing to browse otherwise, you agree to the use of cookies.
