Young Lions recovered quickly from the opening game loss in the Under-20 World Ice Hockey Championship. In the second match, Finland beat Slovakia 5–2.

“We went through the videos and had a meeting about what needs to be improved. The puck game was bad in the first game, but it was improved now and we played a better game”, said the team captain Oliver Kapanen With an interview tape provided by the Ice Hockey Association.

Kapanen himself scored Finland’s third goal, which ended up being the winning goal. Comparisons with a cousin Kasperi Kapaseen started quickly after the hit.

Kasperi Kapanen decided Finland’s 20-year-old world championship in the beginning of 2016. In the final of the home games played in Helsinki, he rolled the puck into the goal with the so-called old-fashioned, i.e. by going around from behind the goal.

Oliver’s goal was created in a similar way. Both Kapas are right players, so the goal rotation happened from the same side.

“Maybe it came to mind a little. I got the puck in, went to push and was able to go around the goal”, Oliver Kapanen said after the goal.

Finland got his top striker on the goal tally against Slovakia on a wide front. He scored the opening goal Sami Päivärintawhose led chain also excelled against Switzerland.

After that, they were responsible for the hits, along with Oliver Kapanen Joakim Kemell, Jani Nyman and Brad Lambert. Nuoret Leijonat needs the power of the four to dream of success.

“The team had a different look today than yesterday. The game was much more liberated. The elements we wanted were visible”, the head coach Tomi Lämsa compared the first two matches after the game in an interview with Discovery.

“We made the offensive game faster. We didn’t slow down in places where you shouldn’t slow down. The pucks brought the puck a little further and got the puck to move better for the attackers,” praised Lämsä.

Slovakian scored both goals in the match Peter Repčík. The first equalized the match in the closing moments of the first period. Finland was not paralyzed by Slovakia’s goal in the locker room, but played a strong second period, where the team scored three of its five goals.

“Slovakia skated hard and turned the game hard. It was good on an individual level. You had to be alert,” Oliver Kapanen assessed the opponent of the second game.

Finland will play its next match against Latvia on Thursday evening. The final game of the group will be against the United States. The last group game starts on New Year’s Eve at 23:00 Finnish time.