Finland jumped into a 2-0 lead in the first period and held on for a 4-1 win over Sweden this afternoon at Santagiulia. The result leaves both teams with 1-1 records and three points, second in Group B behind Slovakia (six points). The last time Sweden scored more than three goals against Finland at the Olympics was 1968 (12 games).

Finland had won only three of 14 meetings at the Olympics against Sweden since their first appearance in 1952. The last win was in 2022 to end the preliminary round, but, of course, the most memorable encounter was the gold-medal game of the Turin Olympics two decades ago.

It was a night Saku Koivu would love to forget (breaking his stick off the faceoff to start the third, which resulted in the winning goal) and one Mats Sundin (drop pass) and Nicklas Lidstrom (GWG) will remember fondly for the rest of their lives.

Today, another Olympic chapter writ large at Santagiulia in Milan, one that included 16 minor penalties in a battle that showcased the intensity of this long and storied rivalry.

"We worked really hard," said Sebastian Aho. "This was a highly-competitive game, emotional game. Two good teams going at it. It's fun. You enjoy playing those games. We're happy to get the win. The way we worked for each other was important. You never know when the intensity level will rise, but we had the feeling when we walked into the arena today that it's going to be a big one."

"There were parts of the game we played really well but parts we were missing a little bit, but it's still early in the tournament," Alexander Wennberg of Sweden opined. "We want to get better and better. We were moving our feet, getting physical, creating some momentum. But we had a tough start, so we have to build on things from here. They got their chances, and they scored. After that, they played smart and didn't give us much. We played too much on the outside."

Although Sweden had the better start to the game, it was Finland that opened the scoring at 7:44. Kaapo Kakko tried to take the puck to the net, but he was checked and the puck slid back to the point. Nikolas Matinpalo controlled it and moved to the top of the faceoff circle before drilling a shot over the shoulder of Filip Gustavsson, who was making his second consecutive start.

Although Sweden continued to have more of the puck, they misfired when chances came to them, and Juuse Saros was solid in net when he had to be. The Swedes couldn’t do much with two power-play chances either, and that cost them later in the period when the Finns doubled their lead.

Eetu Luostarinenn did a good job of evading a check and got the puck out front. Gustavsson bobbled the puck and Anton Lundell batted it in. Video review confirmed this was a good hockey goal, and just like that Finland had a 2-0 lead at 15:26.

But what Sweden couldn’t do on the power play in the first they managed to do early in the second. They got an early 5-on-4 and converted when William Nylander fed a backhand saucer pass from the corner to the point, and Rasmus Dahlin fired a one-timer bar down at 4:33 to bring the Swedes to within a goal.

But when they had another opportunity later in the period, the opportunity backfired. Erik Haula was deep in the Sweden corner with three Tre Kronor players just trying to kill time, but he managed to kick the puck out to the front of the goal where Joel Armia had moved. Armia quickly lifted the puck over the glove of a surprised Gustavsson at 12:47, restoring the Suomi two-goal lead.

The last few seconds of the period provided chippiness and jostling after the whistle, resulting first in offsetting minors and then, when a scrum ensued after the buzzer, four more minors for roughing.

Sweden could muster nothing in the third and the Finns added an empty netter with 34.2 seconds left off a long clearing by Mikko Rantanen.

Both teams are right back at it tomorrow. The Swedes play Slovakia followed by a Finland-Italy tilt.