Cold snap in the Nokia Arena in Tampere on Friday, where one of the two groups of the World Championship is held. At home, in front of a large audience, Finland, holder of the titles Olympic And globalwas beaten by the United States (1-4) when entering the competition.
The Finns had however started well, scoring at the end of the first period by Teemu Hartikainen. But the USA equalized through Cutter Gauthier, then Drew O’Connor, Pittsburgh Penguins player, allowed the Americans to take the lead. At the end of the match, Alex Tuch (Buffalo Sabers) scored twice, the second time in a cage left empty by the Finnish goalkeeper.
In the other group, which is played in Riga (Latvia), the Czech Republic has made a success of its debut in the 2023 World Cup, beating Slovakia (3-2). All the goals were scored in the first half. The France team will enter the World Cup on Saturday (at 11:20 a.m. French time) against Austria.