GDT: 2018 WJC • Game 15 • Group A: FIN(5) - SVK (2) F

[Woodhouse]

Group A:

Finland vs.

Slovakia
Dec. 30 • 16:00 ET • 22:00 CET
Key Bank Center — Buffalo, NY
TV: CMore Hockey, Match TV, NHLN, RTVS2,
TSN 1/4/5, TV12, YLE Areena, YLE TV2

Finland
(Confirmed lineup per IIHF.)

13 Kristian Vesalainen - 9 Janne Kuokkanen - 20 Eeli Tolvanen
32 Aleksi Heponiemi - 27 Joni Ikonen - 12 Otto Koivula
33 Jere Innala - 22 Aapeli Rasanen - 19 Eetu Tuulola
3 Juha Jaaska - 15 Joona Koppanen - 21 Markus Nurmi
34 Rasmus Kupari

2 Miro Heiskanen - 6 Juuso Valimaki
7 Olli Juolevi - 28 Henri Jokiharju
23 Urho Vaakanainen - 36 Kasper Kotkansalo
4 Robin Salo

1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
30 Lassi Lehtinen
31 Niilo Halonen

Slovakia
(Confirmed lineup per IIHF.)

4 Erik Smolka - 20 Peter Kundrik - 17 Milos Kelemen
26 Milos Roman - 25 Alex Tamasi - 19 Marian Studenic
13 Samuel Bucek - 21 Adam Ruzicka - 16 Filip Krivosik
18 Adam Liska - 14 Viliam Cacho - 23 Samuel Solensky

3 Tomas Hedera - 7 Marek Korencik
12 Michal Ivan - 5 Martin Bodak
6 Martin Fehervary - 24 Vojtech Zelenak
9 David Matejovic - 27 Samuel Fereta

30 Roman Durny
1 David Hrenak
2 Jakub Kostelny​

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[The Iron Goalie]

Hope Finland is ready to go today. Slovakia will come to play, and the slow starts won't work like vs Denmark.

 

[Get North]

Hope Slovakia wins and Finland wins vs USA tomorrow. That's the best possibility for a Canadian fan because that'll end up in a SWE/USA Quarter match-up.

So, Go Slovaks!

 

[Statsy]

Not sure Slovakia can pull off a minor miracle two games in a row, but there's always a chance. My feeling on the matter is that Finland is ready to break out this game and score some goals. Tolvanen's first couple of games are quite reminiscent of Puljujarvi's double underage year when he led the entire tournament in shots but didn't find net once. It's got to be frustrating. Hopefully the dam bursts today.

 

[JustaFinnishGuy]

So Kupari is in the doghouse.. But for what?
Hope this lineup is wrong.

 

[vaiski]

I would have guessed they give this game to the backup but I guess this is a must-win.

 

[FiLe]

I would have guessed they give this game to the backup but I guess this is a must-win.

Winning this will likely make things easier going forward, but it's not a total must-win. In essence we're already in the quarters. Even if this one's a loss, only scenario that could make Finland end up in relegation is Canada not beating Denmark in regulation.

 

[slovakiasnextone]

Would be nice to steal some points from Finland, but most important is that our guys play like they did against US and not like against Canada.

 

[kudla]

Finland will underestimate us like USA and there you go.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

USA game isn't a must win if Finland takes this. I would rather face Sweden in the final instead of quarters.

 

[ijuka]

Should be easy win for Finland, really. As such, how this match goes will be very telling of Finland's chances. If they manage to lose, it's a repeat of last season.

 

[illone84]

Huge respect to Slovakia for beating USA, but Finland will be prepared, and will not underestimate SVK.
Fin wins 5-2

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

If we wanna win this game we have to score in powerplays also and not only 5vs5.
This won't be easy game Slovakia is able causing to troubles for us if we play as sloppy like we did in Canada and Denmark games.

Keys to win
Good goatending
No idiotic or stupid penalties.
Score on the powerplay.
Shoot to score.
1st line needs to step up NOW not next games.

Actually whole team needs to start to play now.
It's not enough only 4th line plays and other lines are looking what's going on.

Especially Tolvanen, Heponiemi,Vesalainen, Kuokkanen, Ikonen etc has lots to prove.
So those guys needs to step up now if we wanna win something great in medal round games.

 

[Jaska]

Finland is the favourite, but we can't be too confident. Slovakia has agood team here. Hopefully we see good, fast hockey and the Finnish team gets some chemistry going.

 

[tobu]

Finland is the favorite, but Slovakia is capable of stealing points again. It's all about confidence. Will we see the Slovakia that faced Canada, or the one that faced USA?

 

[DoubleGold]

I think this will be a tight game but Finland will emerge victorious.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

Going to check this game out. Should be a good one.

 

[Statsy]

Finland will underestimate us like USA and there you go.

Finland can't afford to underestimate Slovakia. There were many reasons the US was looking past that game, but Finland has struggled too much to take this for granted. I think they come out hungry in this one.

 

[agent082]

Referees usually favour Finland against Slovakia so they can get some help there too.

 

[FiLe]

FIN lineup.

Luukkonen (Lehtinen)

Heiskanen - Välimäki
Juolevi - Jokiharju
Vaakanainen - Salo
Kotkansalo

Vesalainen - Kuokkanen - Tolvanen
Heponiemi - Ikonen - Koivula
Innanen - Räsänen - Tuulola
Jääskä - Koppanen - Nurmi
Kupari

In other words, no surprises.

 

[Finnswiss]

I hope the Finns will improve the PP. It was bad the last two games.

 

[Finnswiss]

Should be easy win for Finland, really. As such, how this match goes will be very telling of Finland's chances. If they manage to lose, it's a repeat of last season.

I'm not so sure. I hope Finland wins but Slovakia won against USA. I think they are not to underestimate.

 

[Hockeyisl1fe]

You guys will love Tuulola, although I'd have liked it better if he replaced Innala instead of Kupari.

 

[ManWithNoName]

Vesalainen has done f*** all so far. Kupari has looked good and I'd put him in the first line instead. The goalie has looked like a copy of Antti Niemi. I know nothing about the backup but he can't be worse than Luukkonen.

I'd prefer Slovakia in the QF for Sweden instead of Finland.

I predict a close game, and if Slovakia wins, it's because of yet another weak game from the Finnish goalie.

 

[Erikfromfin]

Victory is coming! Tolvanen will finally explode with hat trick