Finland vs. Kazakhstan 5-3 (2-1, 2-0, 1-2) Game Sheet Photos

WINTERTHUR – Susanna Tapani and Michelle Karvinen each had a goal and assist to lead Finland to a 5-3 win over Kazakhstan in the opening game of the 13th World Women’s Championship. The Finns take three points to the top of Group B standings and play again tomorrow night against the host Swiss. Kazakhstan plays Canada as well tomorrow, both games at Deutweg Arena in Winterthur. "We played well," said captain Karoliina Rantamäki, "but this is a young team. We have ten new players, but we knew we could win this game." Finland opened the scoring at 4:20 on a goal by Pia Lund, a 20-year-old rookie to the senior team who played at WW18 in 2008. "I was nervous at the start," she admitted, "but my teammates helped keep me calm, and once the game started I felt better." The Kazakhs tied the game on the power play. Natalya Yakovchuk won the faceoff and got a weak shot off that bounced over goalie Maija Hassinen and trickled over the line at 6:22. The Finns regained the lead three minutes later on their own power play. Minnamari Tuominen took a quick shot that fooled Daria Obydennova and the puck hit the corner of the cage where the post meets the crossbar. The puck fell near the goal line and Anina Rajahuhta banged the puck in. If the first period had been somewhat competitive, the second proved a significant imbalance in talent as the Finns controlled the puck at will. They increased their lead at 4:01 of the second on a nice play by Rantamäki. She let go a hard shot in the slot that went wide, but she collected the rebound behind the net and while Obydennova was getting back to her feet Rantamäki stuffed it in the back side. The middle 20 minutes featured few rushes by the Kazakhs into the Finnish end, and Hassinen faced but one decent shot, that by Alexandra Ashikhina near the end of the period. Credit to the Kazakhs for play in the own end, though. Although they lacked the skating and puck-handling skills of the Finns, they also kept their opponents at bay. The Finns made it 4-1, however, with just 45.9 seconds left after a quick shot by Susanna Tapani was mishandled by Obydennova, spoiling an otherwise impressive period of play from the goalie. The tide turned briefly in the first minute of the third period. First, Rantamaki failed to convert a two-on-one, and moments later defenceman Terhi Mertanen made a terrible giveaway at her blue line. Natalya Yakovchuk claimed the puck and moved in alone, beating Hassinen with an excellent deke and roofing a backhand to cut the Finnish lead to 4-2. Michelle Karvinen made it 5-2 midway through the third, and Zarina Tukhtyeva closed out the scoring a short time later. ANDREW PODNIEKS