Red Wings prospect Eemil Viro and Team Finland attempted to build upon their 2-and-0 record in Group A as they faced the 1-and-2 Slovaks at the World Junior Championship on Sunday.
Finland played both today and will play tomorrow (against Canada) ahead of Wednesday’s quarterfinals, so the Finns were hoping that the Slovaks wouldn’t extract too great a cost in terms of energy and physicality–two aspects of the game which the Slovaks provide in earnest.
Slovakia was playing in their final “round robin” game, and are more or less destined to battle Canada in Wednesday’s quarterfinal.
Finland routed Slovakia 9-3, going 5-for-7 on the power play (including a major penalty against Slovakia), and Eemil Viro did not earn any power play time, just a bit of PK time on the Slovaks’ ONE power play, so he finished with 2 shots and an even plus-minus rating in 15:55 played.
In terms of the game’s narrative…
In the 1st period, Simon Latkoczy started opposite Juha Jatkola in goal, and puck drop occurred at 2:08 PM EDT.
“Well you can’t say “Let’s go” and then tell them to wait a second.” 😂#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/mXbs8o7JXw— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 14, 2022
The Slovaks dumped and chased, and the Finns reversed course but iced the puck only 16 seconds in;
Off the icing, the Finns raced up ice, Finnish captain Janne Hirvonen centered to Kasper Simontaival on a “button hook” play, Simontaival chipped the puck over Latkoczy, and it was 1-0 Finland at 35 seconds of the 1st.
Oh Captain, my Captain 🇫🇮 🇫🇮 🇫🇮
Kasper Simontaival and Roni Hirvonen combine to give @leijonat a 1-0 lead over @HockeySlovakia just 35 seconds into the first. #WorldJuniors #FINSVK pic.twitter.com/JJKwDubupM— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) August 14, 2022
Just 35 seconds in, Kasper Simontaival scores the first goal of the game on a beautiful touch!#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/kmyxJT9A27— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 14, 2022
Viro’s first shift took place just over a minute into the 1st period, and he was able to chip a dump-in out, help his defensive partner, he regained the puck and Finland cleared their zone with relative ease, but the Slovaks re-set and chipped a puck through Viro’s legs, off Jatkola, and Brad Lambert had to come back to chip the rebound away.
The Slovaks were hard-charging, however, and their pace was up-tempo, as you’d expect with the stakes in the game as high as they were.
The problem for Slovakia was that, whenever the Finns would establish possession and control in the offensive zone, their offensive flourishes were absolutely explosive.
The top line of Hirvonen, Raatu and Kemell was particularly effective offensively, but the Slovaks slowly but surely began to muck things up in the neutral zone, and establish defensive dominance when the Finns would set up the cycle, so things slowed down a bit.
This wasn’t really a game where the 6,’ 165-pound Viro could shine particularly heavily: Viro plays as a middle-pair, steady two-way defenseman, and having a quieter game is better as far as Viro is concerned.
Slovakia did rush up the ice and center a pass through Viro’s defensive partner some 6:07 into the game, and Viro splayed out to help his goaltender make a stop-it-for-the-commercial save;
He also did a good job of using his body position to ward off a Slovakian forechecker after the faceoff loss in the defensive zone.
Mostly, I enjoyed watching Viro’s hips turn toward the play wherever he was on the ice, always “squaring up” to play, almost like a goalie. Viro’s positioning is really, really good.
Off a horrible turnover from Simontaival in the defensive zone, Slovakia funneled the puck back to the point, and defensman Peter Repcik chipped a hard shot through traffic and through the five-hole of Juha Jatkola to make it 1-1 at 7:42.
Peter Repcik buries the equalizer for Slovakia!#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/IUVXpSXz6F— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 14, 2022
Peter Repcik ties it up for @HockeySlovakia #WorldJuniors #FINSVK @CBEHockey pic.twitter.com/SyWTK5EKQl— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) August 14, 2022
Viro, at his best, is speedily mobile, spare and efficient, using his short stick well and negating his small size with strong skating skills and a low center of gravity. I could see Viro and Donovan Sebrango making a fine third pair on the Wings’ blueline in the future.
As the 10-minute mark of the 1st period hit, Finland led in shots 5-4, but the Slovaks were definitely menacing the Finns, and Finland’s superior transition game wasn’t negating Slovakia’s ability to back the Finnish defense in and send shot attempts in on Jatkola.
Simon Latkoczy made a HUGE stop on another back-door-to-the-slot play in which Oliver Kapanen chipped a puck in on the Slovakian goaltender, and the Finns began to match Slovakia’s intensity some 12 minutes into the 1st, generating a power play opportunity at 12:08 as Adam Stripai took a dumb slashing penalty:
Viro doesn’t play on the power play, but he does work on the PK.
The Finns did a really good job of cycling the puck at a high pace on their first and second PP units, but Slovakia did a better job of covering the slot and stifling those back-door passes, so Latkoczy only had to make a couple of smart stops to afford the Slovaks a good PK.
However, with 8 seconds left in said PK, defenseman Boris Zabka chipped the puck right out into the slot, and Finnish forward Joel Maatta (no relation to Red Wings defenseman Olli Maatta) chipped the puck in to make it 2-1 at 14:02.
Joel Maatta finds the back of the net with the man advantage, Finland regains the lead!#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/MGfp4GdGNV— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 14, 2022
Viro did get a post-PP shift, and he just did his thing, pushing the puck up ice after using the net as a shield, and skating up ice efficiently.
No fuss, no muss.
That’s not to say that Viro is a “nothingburger” of a prospect: he’s just so very small at 6′ and 165 pounds that his offensive instincts, which are good, don’t display any sort of dominance because he’s busy assuaging for his lack of size defensively.
His positioning is wonderful, and his skating is really good, but he has to work twice as hard as his opponents to win 1-on-1 battles for the puck, even with that incredibly smart short stick of his, and as he’s as lean and wiry as Chris Chelios was, I can’t really see Viro maxing out at more than maybe 180 pounds.
You have to hope that he adds strength over weight, and that, when he does so, he begins to blossom.
He’s just a really solid 4-5-6 defenseman who complements a more bombastic stay-at-home guy like Sebrango.
Viro had a shift with the top line, and he was great! He popped up into play and helped Aatu Raty chip the puck toward the net, and then he got back into position, and popped back up into play to continue the cycle…
And, soon after, Joakim Kemell was kneed by Adam Sykora, who was reviewed for a 5-minute major for kneeing. The penalty was called with 48.8 left in the 1st period as a 5-minute major, and Slovak coach Ivan Fenes was pissed off, but it was the right call.
Adam Sykora was ejected for this knee-on-knee collision with Joakim Kemell — did the officials make the right call here? #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/PIO2SfLXlu— Elite Prospects (@eliteprospects) August 14, 2022
Latkoczy made a couple of really beautiful pad and then glove saves on Kemmell with just over a second remaining in the 1st, and Slovakia ended the 1st period down only 2-1 despite a 17-to-5 shot deficit.
The 2nd period began with Finland on the 5-minute major power play, and only 24 seconds into the period, captain Roni Hirvonen tipped Kasper Simontaival’s slot shot in through an unattended crease to make it 3-1 Finland.
The Finns continued cycling and cycling and cycling some more as the power play continued, though a Peter Repcik shorthanded breakaway–and a beautiful save by Juha Jatkola–did add some spice to what was a pretty boring power play.
Libor Nemec did take a dumb penalty for tripping at 4:54 of the 2nd, and the Finns had a little more urgency on their power play, sending slap shots into Latkoczy instead of just endlessly cycling and passing…
Viro didn’t play on the power play, which stank…
And the Slovaks held firm. They not only earned a great penalty-kill, but also got the 3-2 goal 7:03 into the 2nd period.
Down 26-7 in shots, the Finns got sloppy in their defensive zone, they turned over the puck, and Servac Petrovsky cleaned up the mess to make it 3-2 at 7:03.
Servac Petrovsky finds the back of the net, we’re back to a one goal game!#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/Vo9by5YqZY— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 14, 2022
Servác Petrovský buries the rebound to bring Slovakia within 1! #WorldJuniors
🔗: https://t.co/0OskGdi0SRpic.twitter.com/AEYXJbUh2P— Elite Prospects (@eliteprospects) August 14, 2022
Viro had a post-goal shift and got a shot off on Latkoczy, but it wasn’t threatening, and it ushered in a TV timeout.
On his next shift, Viro got another shot off on Latkoczy, which was a better chance, and, working with the Finns’ 2nd line, he made a good play at center ice to facilitate an offensive rush. Viro was back on the ice and looking refreshed.
Bafflingly, at 10:53, Martin Misiak took a stupid, stupid penalty, hooking down a Finnish forward, and the Slovaks went back to the PK.
You had to wonder where the Slovaks would be without having to kill so many penalties.
And you wondered more when Roby Jareventie chipped the puck toward the Slovakian net-front, and Joel Maatta tipped the biscuit past Latkoczy to make it 4-2 at 11:42.
Joel Maatta takes advantage of another power-play and gives Finland the 4-2 lead!#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/nIS3eY4Vee— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 14, 2022
Some of the Slovakian penalties just sort of happened, but some of them were STUPID.
Petrovsky and Niemela took a stupid set of penalties to give the Finns and Slovaks a 4-on-4 at 12:29, and the Slovaks had the better of the exchange, though Eemil Viro had a good shift during the first half thereof.
The Slovaks struggled when the teams went back to 5-on-5, however, and Latkoczy made some huge stops as the Finns looked to stab a dagger through the Slovaks’ hearts.
A 5-2 deficit would be almost impossible to rally from; 4-2 is salvageable.
Aatu Raty got that dagger! Joakim Kemell fired a cross-ice pass to Raty, Raty chipped the puck top shelf, and Latkoczy lost his footing, yielding a 5-2 marker at 16:41 of the 2nd.
Slovakia was all but done.
When Rubin Rafkin sprung Oliver Kapanen on a breakaway behind the Slovak defense, he picked the blocker side on the right-catching Latkoczy, and Finland made it 6-2 at 18:02 of the 2nd period, effectively ending the night for the Slovaks.
In the 3rd period, the Finns looked to ensure that they would win the game without incurring any injuries; Slovakia gave goaltender Tomas Bolo some ice time after Simon Latkoczy stopped 30 of 36 shots against.
The Finns did do a good job of pushing the puck up ice and trying to keep it there, but the Slovaks had a big, heavy forecheck going as well, and, sans pressure, they really seemed to want to take their pound of flesh out of the Finns.
That’s dangerous if you’re Finland, who has to play Canada at 4 PM on Monday.
That being said, Simon Vaisanen was able to chip a broken-stick slap shot by Juuso Maenpa past Bolo to make it 7-2 at 6:11.
That seemed to back the Slovaks off, and, in all honesty, the game got a little boring to watch after that, but my job is to watch so you don’t have to.
Almost 9 minutes into the 3rd, Viro was able to get a slap shot off on Bolo, and then smartly set up a breakout despite being chased out from behind his own net.
He remained steady and unspectacular, like a player who you don’t want to see on the ice as a positive compliment…
But after Viro got off the ice, the Slovaks scored what felt like an inevitable 7-3 goal at 9:16, Libor Nemec tipped a puck past Juha Jatkola. A consolation goal on their 14th shot.
Boris Zabka also took a hooking penalty at 10:42, yielding one more Finnish power play.
The Finns, who had 24 power play shots, continued to ice their top two power play units, and I guess it mattered, because Kasper Simontaival scored the tip-in of a Kasper Puutio shot, off Simontaival’s skates, at 11:45. It was 8-3 Finland.
Slovakia took an interference minor at 13:29 as Maros Jedlicka took a dumb interference call, and the 4-for-6 Finnish power play went back to work.
Kasper Puutio made it 5-for-7. He ripped a slap shot off the goalpost and in at 15:17, on their 20th power play shot of 45 for the game. 9-3 Finland.
More steady play on a rare shift followed for Eemil Viro, and the final couple of minutes of regulation time began to wind down.
Finland did take a high-sticking penalty at 18:03, giving Slovakia their FIRST POWER PLAY of the game.
Compared to 7 for the Finns, 5-minute major included.
Viro DID play on the penalty-kill, and he did a solid job of helping his goaltender see the puck, and he fronted a slap shot while battling the Slovaks’ big net-front guy, Maros Jedlicka.
Viro did get sucked out of the net front following Jedlicka into the corner, and that afforded a Slovakian forward a net-front jab, but Jatkola bailed Viro out.
That was the game.
Update: Here are the highlights from IIHF.com:
