The Finnish team delighted their fans with a 4-3 victory over Germany at the Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland on Saturday to enter the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.

Montreal Canadiens forward Joel Armia scored the first goal of the game when he blasted a nice one-timer into the slot.

His teammate Sakari Manninen particularly stood out in the duel by flashing the red light twice in a short time of 1:47 in the second third.

Defender Mikko Lehtonen dealt a heavy blow to the Germans when he scored his fourth goal midway through the third period.

Lehtonen used a long return to incite hysteria in the amphitheater, which was mostly occupied by Finns.

Marcel Noebels, Kai Wissman and John Peterka were the scorers for Germany.

Both sides are enjoying a day off before returning to action on Monday.

Slovakia plays spoilsport

Latvia failed to claim its first win at the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, losing 2-1 to Slovakia at the Riga Arena in Latvia.

The Latvians managed to level the game late in midfield when Rodrigo Abols scored from a breakaway.

Slovakia striker Marek Hrivik gave Latvia a shiver as he scored the winner midway through the third period.

Latvia will try to win a first game against the Czech Republic on Monday, while Slovakia take on Kazakhstan on Sunday.

Switzerland shows no mercy towards Slovenia

Colorado Avalanche forward Denis Malgin was the Swiss team’s attacking star with three points (two goals and an assist) in the convincing 7-0 win over Slovenia at the Riga Arena.

Midway through the first half, Malgin opened the game with a powerful one-timer that gave Slovenia goalkeeper Gasper Kroselj no chance.

Janis Moser, Nino Niederreiter, Calvin Thürkauf, Marco Miranda and Christoph Bertschy made their contribution for the Swiss.

Both teams will be back in action on Sunday. Switzerland meets Norway while Slovenia meets Canada.