Finland beat Germany 4-3 for first win

Finland emerged victorious 4-3 in a hard-fought match against Germany for their first win of the 2023 IIHF at Nokia Arena on Saturday.

SUOMI😍🇫🇮 @leijonat get their first win of #IIHFWorlds

📝Game recap: https://t.co/kKaqAN6Sgj pic.twitter.com/yqKH370lXo

— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 13, 2023

Mikko Lehtonen scored the decisive goal, which put the Finns in front as their attacking persistence was rewarded.

Sakari Manninen had 2 goals and an assist.

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Joel Armia broke the deadlock at 9:30. Germany were quick to respond and leveled the scoring at 17:45 through Marcel Noebels.

They went briefly ahead with Kai Wissman’s strike, before Manninen restored the level pegging just 1:43 later.

Manninen was at the center of attention again as he fired his team into a 3-2 lead, before the Germans pulled their act together and leveled the scoring once again with John Peterka’s power play goal.

It came down to Lehtonen, who gave the Finns the three points with an excellent finish.

It was a much needed result for the hosts, who suffered a tough 4-1 loss to USA the previous game. Germany remain winless after losing 1-0 to Sweden in their first game.