The 4-1 win against Switzerland on Thursday gave Tre Kronor an excellent start to the tournament. Finland in Fribourg two days later was a completely different story.
The Finns were the clearly better team and laid the foundation for their undisputed win more than halfway through the first period.
Kalle Kossila's goal, where he was elegantly played forward by Waltteri Merelä, showed the way. The Örebro player angled in the leading goal on Arvid Holm's stick side. Holm, in goal instead of Lasse Johansson, had a lot to handle.
"Not up to level"
It could have been another goal for them. We're not at all up to level in this period. They're pouring over us and taking back the puck time and time again. We need to help each other better and be quicker, said Tre Kronor's Tim Heed to SVT.
The team captain analyzed further:
They come out with more speed and energy than we do.
Markus Nurmi's 2-0 goal in numerical superiority in the second period was followed by a solo effort by Holm, who despite the loss made a more than approved performance.
We're not close today to being the team we want to be, says Sam Hallam to SVT.
"Look in the mirror"
When Adam Ollas Mattsson's penalty gave Finland a new power play, it was soon game over for Tre Kronor. From the blue line, Santtu Kinnunen pushed in 3-0.
Finland wins the battles, they win the pucks. Each and every one must go to themselves and look in the mirror. We need to go out to want to win, said Lukas Bengtsson to SVT during the break before the final period.
Game-wise, there was an improvement in the last 20 minutes, and with five minutes left, Theodor Lennström finally got a puck in, but the goal was disallowed after a longer video review.
Tre Kronor concludes the tournament against the Czech Republic on Sunday.
We all need to take our responsibility and make a better game. We need to get into a completely different competitive gear, says national team captain Sam Hallam to SVT.
