Former Edmonton Oilers forward Jesse Puljujarvi recorded a brace in what was a 4-1 win for Finland against Hungary. The win came in the Finns' second contest of the IIHF World Championship, pushing the team to 2-0 to start preliminary round action.
Puljujarvi's first goal came with just over three minutes gone in the second period, with assists from Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov and Genève-Servette HC forward Sakari Manninen. His second goal came almost three minutes into the third period on a power play opportunity; the assists were provided by Barkov and Winnipeg Jets defenseman Ville Heinola.
The other two Finnish goals were scored by Heinola and Malmö Redhawks forward Janne Kuokkanen. The assists on the Heinola goal were provided by Puljularvi and New York Rangers defenseman Urho Vaakanainen, while the Kuokkanen goal was supported by Vancouver Canucks forward Aatu Raty and Boston Bruins defenseman Henri Jokiharju.
Hungary's lone goal of the game was scored by Ässät forward Balazs Sebök, with assists coming from Jukurit winger Bence Horvath and Fehérvár AV19 winger Istvan Terbocs.
Interesting facts and statistics
Finland outshot Hungary by a total of 32-10; despite winning the first period shot count by an 8-5 margin, the Finns outshot the Hungarian entry 18-5 in the second period and 6-0 in the third.
Finland never found themselves on the penalty kill during the game. The Finns also converted one of their three power play opportunities.
Puljujarvi led all skaters with five shots on goal; seven additional Finnish skaters recorded at least three shots on goal.
Fehérvár AV19 forward Csanad Erdely recorded four shots on goal for Hungary.
Boston Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo recorded nine saves on 10 shots faced, resulting in a 0.900 save percentage. Piráti Chomutov netminder Adam Vay recorded 28 saves on 32 shots faced for a 0.875 save percentage.
What's next?
Hungary will return to World Championship action on Sunday when they take on Austria. Austria opened their World Championship campaign on Saturday with a 5-2 win over Great Britain; EC Salzburg forwards Benjamin Nissner and Peter Schneider both recorded multi-point games in the win.
Finland will have Sunday off before returning to World Championship action to take on the United States. The United States lost its tournament opener on Friday, a 3-1 decision to Switzerland, which also served as a rematch of the gold medal game from the tournament's 2025 edition.
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