Last year, Austria beat Finland for the first time in an IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. The Finns were determined to make sure that loss would remain a curiosity of history. They got the win, but it didn’t come easily as they beat Austria 2-1 in Stockholm.
Juuso Parssinen scored the game-winner in the first period and Juuse Saros made 14 saves for Finland. Austria’s goaltender Atte Tolvanen turned the puck away 26 times.
"Overall, we played a good game. We picked it up after the first ten and were able to really push Finland;" Austria's Tolvanen said.
"We had a pretty good start, and a good powerplay in the first period. They skated well and managed to take time and space away from us," said Eeli Tolvanen, Finland.
And yes, another curiosity in the game was the battle between the Tolvanen brothers. Eeli, the forward, was wearing Finland’s blue-and-white and his brother, Atte, a naturalized Austrian, was doing his best to keep the Finns off the scoreboard.
Patrik Puistola scored the first goal in Group A of the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Stockholm when he batted in Robin Salo’s pass from behind the goal line from mid-air at 4.38. It was also his first Ice Hockey World Championship point. He went pointless in five games in the 2024 tournament. Lenni Hameenaho also collected an assist in his Ice Hockey World Championship game.
Two and a half minutes later, the Finns were at it again thanks to a nice give and go. They cycled the puck in the Austrian zone. Juuso Parssinen took it to high slot and passed it to Mikael Seppala down low, and he found Parssinen wide open in the slot, and he one-timed it in to double the Finnish lead to 2-0 at 7.06.
The Austrians weren’t without their chances in the first period, but Juuse Saros in Finland’s goal managed to turn away most of the shots. However, with 6.06 remaining in the period, Bernd Wolf beat the Predators goalie with a snapshot off his own rebound. Peter Schneider was credited with an assist, his 16th in Ice Hockey World Championships, most in Austrian hockey history.
It was also the first goal Saros has ever allowed in an Ice Hockey World Championship. He was 3-0 with three shutouts coming into the tournament.
The second period was a typical middle frame, calm before storm, and it was scoreless.
Finland outshot Austria 19-7 in the two periods and had a few dangerous scoring chances but Tolvanen and the defense in front of him stood tall and kept Austria in the hunt.
Finland controlled the game, outshooting Austria 7-3 In the first ten minutes but the Austrian push came later when suddenly, Marco Kasper had three great chances in one shift, but each of his shots hit Saros, a Finnish defender, or a teammate.
One of the highlights of the period was a Tolvanen-on-Tolvanen breakaway, which the goaltending brother won.
"Hopefully, there's a photo of that somewhere," Atte said. "I may have had some idea of what he would do, but he's got so many moves that he can change it up anytime."
Austria thought they had tied the game, but a coach’s challenge overturned the call for goaltender interference.
With 90 seconds remaining, they chased an equalizer with six skaters on the ice, but couldn't find a way to beat Saros.