Finland smash Hungary 7-1 for 3rd regulation win

Finland trashed Hungary 7-1 at the 2023 IIHF World Championship on Friday.

🇫🇮 @leijonat end the game in style with a 5-goal third period!

✍️Game recap: https://t.co/WGyVOgWm7s pic.twitter.com/2ABBEDUnfV

— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 19, 2023

The game was more or less in the balance in the first two periods, but the defending champions exploded with real menace in the third period, bagging 5 goals against helpless Hungarians.

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Mikko Lehtonen opened the scoring for the reigning champions at 12:52. The Finns doubled their lead in the second period power-play through Kaapo Kakko.

Hungary reduced the deficit at 6:46 for 2-1. It looked as if a closely-fought match is shaping up.

However, the Finns absolutely destroyed their opponent in the third period with goals from Atte Ohtamaa, Teemu Hartikainen, Kasperi Kapanen, Walterri Merela, Joel Armia rounding off the final score of 7-1.

Mikko Rantanen finished the game with 3 assist, which puts him in the leadership for most assists in the tournament-7 in total, despite him not being able to score a goal yet.

Hungary will be looking to bounce back from two heavy defeats on Sunday against Germany. They remain pointless after stunning France 3-2 in the opening game. Finland take on Austria on Saturday.