Finns reach quarter-final in Ice Hockey WC as group leader

Host Finland reached to the quarter-final in Ice Hockey World Championship 2022 as the top team in preliminary round after beating Czech Republic by three goals to nil in their last Group B match in Tampere Nokia Arena on late Tuesday night.

The Lions will face Group A fourth team Slovakia in the quarter-final in the same ground on Thursday.

Joel Armia scored the opening goal for Finland at the 10^th minute and took 1-0 lead in the match dominated by the Finns from the very beginning.

Sakari Manninen widened the difference 2-0 at the 17^th minute followed by Toni Rajala at the 36^th minute to ensure the 3-0 victory against the Czechs.

Although Czechs tried to come back in the third period and both teams created some opportunities but neither the hosts, nor the guests got any success.

With this victory Finland placed top in the Group B with 19 points followed by Sweden with 18 points, Czech Republic and USA with 13 points each.

Earlier in the previous matches, Finland beat Norway by 5-0, Latvia by 2-1, USA by 4-1, Great Britain by 6-0 and Austria by 3-0 while lost to Sweden in tiebreaker.

Meanwhile in Group A, Switzerland secured the top place with 20 points followed by Germany ( 16 points), Canada (15 points) and Slovakia (12 points).

Canada will face Sweden, Switzerland will face USA and Czech Republic will face Germany in the other quarter-finals scheduled for Thursday.