Selanne Sets Record in Finns Win

Submitted by Micheal A. Aldred on Sat, 02/20/2010 - 02:33

On Friday night, Finland continued its quest to steal away the number one seed in Group C from the 2006 Olympic Gold Medal winning Swedes. It would come in a matchup against the defensive team Germany, lead by Marco Sturm and Jochen Hecht.

It was Finland’s powerplay that buried the Germans in this outing, scoring four times on six powerplay opportunities. Niklas Hagman tied the tournament lead in points (4) with a pair of assists. Niklas Backstrom of the Minnesota Wild stopped 24 shots en route to a shutout. Germany has yet to score a goal in these Olympic games.

Germany’s best chance of the game came when Marco Sturm was denied by Backstrom on the blocker side on a partial break. Jochen Hecht took a slashing penalty immediately after the play on Olli Jokinen that erased any momentum gained from the Sturm rush for Germany.

On the ensuing powerplay, Kimmo Timonen beat Dmitri Patzold with a bullet from the blue line to extend the lead to three. Selanne’s assist on the play gave him sole possession of the number one spot on the all-time Olympic points list with 37 (20G, 17A).

Kimmo Timonen had two goals in the game, as twelve Finns registered at least a point in the game.

Finland will now prepare for a 2006 Gold Medal rematch against Sweden on Sunday at 11:59 p.m. EST. Germany’s final game of the preliminary round will be against Belarus on Saturday at 11:59 p.m. EST.

Micheal A. Aldred
www.checkingfrombehind.com

Comment 1

George Prax says:
Sat, 02/20/2010 - 22:01

I don't understand how so many people (myself included) overlooked Finland in all of this hype of the other major teams. They're one of the most decorated hockey countries of the last couple of decades and have a good mix of youngsters and veterans. And clearly, guys like Teemu and Saku are out for one last hurrah. I can definitely see them doing some damage going into the elimination round.