Fighting for the coveted top spot in Group B, Finland and Germany met at the Women's World Championship for the first time in six years on Friday, with Finland taking the win 3-0. This game marked significant milestones for two players, with Jenni Hiirikoski playing in her 400th game for Finland and Laura Kluge in her 100th game for Germany.

Germany held their own through the first few minutes, but the story of the first period was Finland’s special teams. Taking two penalties in the first seven minutes, Finland didn’t just keep the puck out of their net, but spent a decent amount of time on the penalty kill in Germany’s zone.



Finland didn’t waste any time once they got a power play of their own. Hiirikoski passed the puck up ice to Petra Nieminen, who made moves past two German players and fed the puck across the slot to Rosa Lindstedt to give Finland the lead.

"The timing was perfect, and obviously Petra did a really good job on the wall and made a really nice pass," said Lindstedt. "I think we followed our game plan pretty well, we tried to turn around the game pretty quick in the neutral zone and tried to get the puck in the offensive zone."

Making her Women’s Worlds debut in net for Germany was Johanna May, who plays for ESC Riverrats Geretsried in the fourth German men’s league and was named Best Goaltender at the 2017 U18 Women’s World Championship Division I Group A tournament, where she backstopped Germany to gold. May didn't appear shaken in the moments that followed Lindstedt’s goal, making an impressive save through heavy traffic.

"She did so well," Tabea Botthof said of May. "I played with her in U18s too and obviously I know what she can do, and she did it today and it’s incredible."

Finland added a second goal before the intermission however. While May initially stopped the oncoming line of Jenniina Nylund, Sofianna Sundelin and Emilia Vesa, she wasn’t able to fully cover the puck, and Vesa tapped it over the line.

The Germans continued the hunt for what would've been their first Women’s World Championship goal against Finland since 2005, narrowly missing on smart plays across the crease by Celina Haider and Marie Delarbre. They only managed one shot in the second period to Finland’s 16, but stepped up their defensive play, continuing to block shots and quickly move the puck away from May’s crease.

"I was surprised how well they [Germany] played yesterday against Sweden but they have all their best players here," said Nieminen. "We were ready and expected them to play hard. I’m glad for them, and glad we were able to respond to play well and win. We can’t score 14 goals every night, but when we get 40 shots and we have so many good players, we need to score more."

Demonstrating why she’s been one of Finland’s top players for nearly two decades, Hiirikoski was once again the starting point of a Finnish tally, sending the puck down the ice where it was retrieved by Viivi Vainikka. Carrying the puck into Finland’s zone, Vainikka skated it behind the net and then out in front of May, scoring top shelf to increase Finland’s lead to 3-0.

"We have four good lines, everyone can play and everyone has had some points among the lines and we are doing well together," said Lindstedt. "So that’s the thing [we want to continue], the good feeling and playing well together as a team, I think that will be the most important thing in this tournament."

On the game sheet the third period was Germany’s best, as May stopped all 18 shots, with Finland’s closest opportunity ringing off the crossbar.

"They blocked a lot of shots, good for them, but luckily we got three goals. Still, we need to get more shots through," said Nelli Laitinen. "These aren’t easy games. We need to play as well as if we’re playing Canada or the U.S., and today we had a lot of shots but only three goals so we need to focus on that on Sunday."

Germany generated more of their own chances in the third as well, with Nicola Eisenschmid nearly scoring on Anni Keisala to break the shutout.

"For me that was the best game I’ve played with the team against Finland so it felt amazing," said Botthof. "I think it showed how far we’ve come, and we found our confidence again. I think in past games and tournaments we kind of were struggling with that a little bit, finding our character and finding what defines us—and this is what defines us. I don’t think we ever stopped working.".