Top standouts from Finland vs. Slovakia in quarterfinal World Junior Championship game
After a difficult 2-0 start to the tournament, Finland will fight for a medal after beating Slovakia 4-3 in the first quarterfinal game on Tuesday.
The Finns will play in the semifinal on Thursday, with its opponent to be determined. Slovakia, meanwhile, will focus on 2025 after finishing the round-robin in second place in Group B.
It looked like the first period would end quietly tied at 0-0, but Adam Sykora had a different idea. After Filip Mesar managed to get the puck on net with a second to go off a faceoff, Adam Sykora jumped in and beat goaltender Niklas Kokko on the rebound to make it 1-0 with 0.2 seconds left on the clock.
The Finns had 18 minutes to think it through, and at 2:36 into the second, they found back. This time, Tommi Mannisto scored to make it 1-1 after jamming in a chance in tight on Adam Gajan to get the Finns back in it. Finland scored even earlier in the third to make it a 2-1 game, with Lenni Hameenaho scoring just 36 seconds into the frame. But Dalibor Dvorsky answered back seven minutes later, setting up a wild end to a solid quarterfinal matchup.
It looked like the game was destined for overtime, but Aleksanteri Kaskimaki had different plans. After Konsta Helenius won the puck battle along the boards, Kaskimaki fired a hard one-timer past Gajan and in, giving Finland a 4-3 advantage with just under two minutes later.
But Slovakia had no interest in going down easy. With 44 seconds left, Filip Mesar took Maxim Strbak’s feed and blasted it past Kokko, forcing the extra frame. But overtime barely even got started before Jerer Lassila scored on the breakaway, beating Gajan with the deke to the blocker side just 24 seconds in to clinch the victory.
Finland
#34 Tommi Mannisto, LW (Undrafted): Mannisto’s drive to make things happen has made him valuable for the Finns in this tournament, and his early goal in the second was huge. He does a great job of driving to the net and working his tail off, so dirty, hard-working efforts are to be expected.
#33 Jani Nyman, RW (Seattle Kraken): Nyman looked like a man on a mission in the first period with four shots, even though nothing went in. Nyman was the hero from the game against Sweden on Sunday so you could tell he was extra motivated around the net today. The Finns needed someone to step up, and Nyman was one of the better players.
#29 Lenni Hameenaho, RW (New Jersey Devils): Hameenaho hasn’t dominated the scoring charts like he did at the World Junior Summer Showcase, but that go-ahead goal early in the third was huge. The Finns weren’t able to build off the momentum immediately after, but Hammenaho has seemed a bit snakebitten.
#19 Konsta Helenius, C (2024 NHL Draft): It hasn’t been an easy tournament for Helenius, but his work to set up the 3-2 goal was huge. Helenius put in the work along the boards to get it to Kaskimaki, finally getting rewarded for one of the better games he played in the tournament.
#28 Jere Lassila, C (Undrafted): One of the best-undrafted players in the tournament, Lassila assisted on the first goal and then scored on the breakaway to send Finland to the semis. He’s quick, works his rear-end off and has quick hands, but he’s best known for getting the puck into scoring lanes around the net.
Slovakia
#14 Adam Sykora, LW (New York Rangers): Sykora came up huge with the late first-period goal, beating the buzzer to make it 1-0 Slovakia. We’ve come to see that type of energy from Sykora, fighting for the puck every chance he could possibly get. The lead didn’t last long, but that was still important for a Slovak team that was outshot in the first period.
#15 Dalibor Dvorsky, C (St. Louis Blues): When the Slovaks needed a big goal to get back in the game, Dvorsky delivered. This wasn’t the classic dominant tournament we’ve seen from Dvorsky in his third run, but he deserves some positive attention for how he attacked the play and forced turnovers with simple stick checks all game long. Dvorsky then nabbed an assist on the game-tying goal that forced overtime, creating some havoc in front of the Finnish net.
#10 Filip Mesar, RW (Montreal Canadiens): Yet another good game from the 2022 first-rounder. He assisted on the first goal and then scored the 4-4 goal in the final minute of play, forcing overtime. You need your biggest stars to show up in the biggest minutes and Mesar delivered, much like he did in the early stages of this tournament.
#4 Maxim Strbak, D (Buffalo Sabres): It was a great game for Strbak, but he didn’t have anything on the scoresheet to show until the 3-3 goal. Strbak finished his tournament as one of the biggest standout defenders, mostly for how his great decision-making. He’ll be back next year.
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