And Bowns was referred to as into motion early on when Filppula chased down a lofted cross and superior past the British D. The goalie had the solutions on that event however remained busy as Finland dominated the early exchanges.
However, whereas there was little doubt that the host nation was good worth for its lead with Niklas Friman shot house within the seventh minute, there was comprehensible frustration from GB at a giant deflection of Brett Perlini’s skate to wrong-foot Bowns on that opening aim.
“It was a lucky goal but we felt like we needed to be very sharp right from the beginning,” Friman stated. “We battled hard, stayed on the puck and pressured them in the offensive zone. That was the plan and we did it very well.”
Bowns added to his spotlight reel halfway via the body with a giant cease on the again door to disclaim Filppula as soon as once more after Heiskanen carved a swathe via the defence.
“To be honest, I thought I had him there but not this time,” Filppula stated. “It was a great save.”
But Bowns was wrongfooted by one other deflection as Finland doubled its lead when Juuso Hietanen’s level shot clipped David Phillips’ thigh on its manner into the web.
“I think we had four unlucky bounces off our own guys, but that’s hockey,” the goalie stated. “I didn’t think it was necessarily a 6-0 game.
“Obviously Finland deserved to win, they have been significantly better than us, however I believed we battled onerous. A staff of that calibre, they’re stronger and quicker and so they’re at all times going to pin you in.”
Little was seen of Britain as an offensive force in the first period but the start of the second brought a flurry of activity for Jussi Olkinuora to contend with. Perlini saw the route to goal open up for him, only to be denied by the goalie and later in the frame a quick breakaway from Robert Dowd gave Ben Lake a chance. However, the Belfast forward’s attempt to stick handle to the net went awry. Play continued but Sam Jones’ long shot was comfortable for the Finnish netminder.
“We had the puck more often than not immediately so it was fairly quiet for a goalie,” Olkinuora admitted. “Overall, I’m actually proud of the way in which the blokes are taking part in. It was enjoyable to look at immediately.”
At the other end, the Finns were more clinical. Filppula got past Bowns at the third time of asking when he steered Mikael Granlund’s feed over the British goalie’s shoulder for 3-0. And right after the Ben Lake chance, Finland showed how to execute a quick breakaway. Friman’s stretch pass sent Armia clear and his pace took him away from the defence to win his duel with Bowns.
Discipline was always going to be a big factor for Great Britain in this game, with the Finnish power play hugely effective in this tournament. It took 28 minutes for the home crowd to see their heroes with an extra man here and when the PP finally arrived it could not yield a goal. Bowns impressed once again with an eye-catching leap to deny Sakari Manninen on the best Finnish opportunity.
Finland, too, kept it clean. Armia’s tripping penalty after 43 minutes was his team’s first and only infringement. Britain enjoyed a rare respite from defensive duties but, save for one combination involving Matthew Myers and Perlini, posed little attacking threat.
At the other end, Maenalanen added a fifth when he tipped home a point shot from Lindell, underlining the extent of Finland’s dominance midway through the third period. And there was more to come when a power play saw Rajala make it 6-0 with a point shot that took a big deflection off Dallas Ehrhardt on its way into the net.
“There’s a whole lot of great things that we are able to convey to the subsequent sport,” concluded Heiskanen. “Of course that is a unique opponent however we have to maintain transferring forwards.”