Olympics men’s hockey: Finland powers past Germany, 5-2

Finland opened up group play with a strong 5-2 victory over Germany, becoming the first team to avoid an upset.

Finland did not fall victim to the upset like USA and Olympic Athletes of Russia, taking out Germany by a score of 5-2.

Eeli Tolvanen was the star of the show, finishing with one goal and three assists.

Sami Lepisto opened the scoring for Finland, firing a blast from the point past goaltender Danny Aus Den Birken on the power play. Germany tied it with a power play goal of their own courtesy of Brooks Macek. A goal off a scramble by Mika Pyorala with 5:30 left in the first gave Finland the lead heading into the second period.

Germany played a cautious second period, searching for the equalizer, but a late power play goal by Tolvanen pushed the Finland lead to 3-1. Lasse Kukkonen made is 4-1 with less than two minutes left in the period, all but killing Germany’s comeback hopes.

Frank Hordler managed to give Germany life with a goal 1:51 into the third. However, another power play goal, this time from Joonas Kemppainen, effectively but this one to bed.

Finland’s power play finished the game 3-5. Netminder Mikko Koskinen made 22 saves for Finland.

Highlights

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What’s Next?

Both teams play again on Friday at 7:10 a.m. ET. Finland will face Norway while Germany takes on Sweden. It will be the second game of group play for all four teams.