Powered by three first-period goals, Finland held on for a 5-3 quarter-final win over Slovakia on Thursday night in Ottawa. Jesse Nurmi paced the Finnish attack with two goals and an assist, and Jesse Kiiskinen had a goal and a helper.

"It feels great, and we have some unfinished business still," Nurmi said.

Slovakia outshot Finland 36-18, but Finnish netminder Petteri Rimpinen was excellent again in his fifth consecutive start.

"The whole tournament, he has been unreal," forward Kasper Halttunen said of Rimpinen, who stopped 17 or 18 shots the Slovaks fired in the second period. "He's a guy that we can trust 100 percent in those big moments. Tonight, we had a five-minute penalty there, and he stepped up, right? He's a huge part of our team."

Slovak goalie Alan Lendak, whose only previous appearance was in the 4-2 loss to Czechia, was pulled after surrendering three goals on five shots.

The hard-working Finns took another big step in their quest to win their sixth World Junior gold medal all-time (1987, 1998, 2014, 2016, 2019). Finland last medaled in 2022, settling for silver with a 3-2 overtime loss to host Canada in Edmonton.

 

The result extends Slovakia’s World Junior medal drought to 10 years. The Slovaks have won the bronze medal twice, in 1998 (Helsinki) and 2015 (Toronto). This year, they finished sixth for the third straight year.

"It's really hard to find words right now," said assistant captain Maxim Strbak. "We really wanted to win today. I think in the third period, we left everything on the ice, and that's all we can do. Hockey's this way. Sometimes it goes your way, and sometimes it doesn't."

Just 1:10 in, Finland drew first blood. Off a Slovak defensive zone turnover, Nurmi went hard to the net with the puck and fell, but Kiiskinen was there to put in the rebound.

The Finns brought a physical game, too. Blueliner Emil Pieniniemi nailed Roman Kukumberg in the neutral zone. And at 3:54, Nurmi doubled Finland’s lead off the rush, taking a fine pass from Kiiskinen in the left faceoff circle and going high to the glove side.

During a mid-period Slovak power play, Rimpinen came across with his left pad to rob Slovak captain Dalibor Dvorsky on a one-timer.

Seconds after Finland’s first man advantage expired, Rasmus Kumpulainen made it 3-0 at 13:03. A wicked Halttunen shot flew through the legs of Slovak blueliner Luka Radivojevic and Kumpulainen tipped it past Lendak. Slovak coach Ivan Fenes had seen enough, replacing Lendak with regular starter Samuel Urban.

"Our line [with Julius Miettinen] is called the Big Boy Line," said a smiling Halttunen. "Three big guys just working hard and having some fun!"

In the opening minute of the second period, Topias Hynninen barged to the net and Konsta Helenius's shot went in off his right skate. An unusual sequence ensued. After a video review, it was ruled a good goal. Fenes promptly challenged for goalie interference, and after another review, the officials waved off the goal.

The Slovaks got a huge chance at the midpoint when Pieniniemi got a five-minute major and game misconduct for kneeing on Radivojevic, who had to be helped off.

The top Slovak veterans capitalized. Juraj Pekarcik cut the deficit to 3-1 at 10:15, giong top corner, short side from the left faceoff circle, set up by Dvorsky and Maxim Strbak, both four-time World Junior participants. It was the first goal the Finnish PK has given up in Ottawa. However, Slovakia could have used more goals on this power play, and couldn't deliver.

At 15:53, Finland restored its three-goal lead. From the side of the net, Benjamin Rautiainen bounced the puck out front to Rasmus Kumpulainen, who made no mistake.

In the third period, Robert Fedor gave Slovakia life when Kukumberg looped behind the goal line and found him out front to surprise Rimpinen over the glove at 9:13.

The Slovaks pressed for the equalizer. With Veeti Vaisanen off for interference, Urban went to the bench to give Slovakia a 6-on-4 man advantage with under eight minutes to play. Remarkably, the Slovak goalie came back on just in time to slide into place and block a Finnish empty-netter attempt.

At 16:04, Dvorsky scored amid a scramble in front to make it 4-3. But then off a faceoff in the Slovak end, Nurmi tallied from the high slot for a 5-3 Finnish edge at 18:01. Out came Urban again in the dying moments, but it was too late for the Slovaks to close the gap.

"We didn't give up, even though we were down 3-0," said Dvorsky. "We gave it our all, and we almost got back. So I'm proud of our guys for the effort today."

Strbak reflected on his four years at the World Juniors with Dvorsky: "I've had so much fun. Some of my best memories are from these tournaments. And you know, I spent four years in here with this coaching staff. Every team was special in its own way. And it hurts. We've been in the quarter-finals three times now [from 2023 to 2025], and we've fallen short every single time. So I kind of wish we could have gone further. But overall, I had a great time for the four years I've been here."