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Finland beat USA in Ice Hockey WC opener

Published : 23 May 2021, 12:15

Updated : 23 May 2021, 12:35

DF Report

Finland's players celebrate during the Group B match between Finland and the United States at the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Riga, Latvia, May 22, 2021. Photo: Xinhua by Edijs Palens.

Defending world champion Finland started its Ice Hockey 2021 world championship journey with a victory against the USA at Arena Riga in Latvia on Saturday.

The Lions beat the USA by 2 goals to one prompting their desire to bag the fourth world cup championship. Finland won world cup in 1995, 2011 and 2019 while the tournament in 2020 was cancelled in the backdrop of the coronavirus outbreak across the globe.

"It's a good start to the tournament, but we can improve a lot of things," Iiro Pakarinen, who scored the game-winner in the second period told IIHF at the end of the match.

Earlier, Atte Ohtamaa scored one goal for Finland while Jason Robertson scored the solitary goal for the USA.

Finnish goalkeeper Jussi Olkinuora saved 29 shots to ensure victory for the team.

Finland will face Kazakhstan on Sunday, while the U.S. will play with Canada.