Artturi Lehkonen was the hero for Finland on Wednesday.
The Avalanche’s forward capped off an impressive two-goal comeback with the overtime winning, helping Finland capture a 3-2 victory over Switzerland to punch a ticket to the final four of the Olympics.
Lehkonen’s second of the tournament was Finland’s third goal in just under nine and a half minutes of action after getting shutout for nearly 54 minutes of play.
The Swiss went up 2-0 with two goals in 1:12 late in the first period. Nino Neiderreiter had the second tally.
That score held until the Finns finally got on the board with 6:06 remaining in regulation. Sebastian Aho scored his third of the tournament to give them life. They kept pressing, even pulling the goalie, before finally tying it up.
It was the Dallas Stars trio that got it done late. With 1:12 remaining, Miro Heiskanen scored off a setup from Roope Hintz and Mikko Rantanen.
Lehkonen’s 3-on-3 OT winner was assisted by Anton Lundell and Esa Lindell.
Finland joined Slovakia and Canada as three of the final four teams. Once the Sweden v.s. USA is completed, the remaining four teams will be re-seeded to determine the matchups for Friday’s semi final games.
