Finland defeats Russia to claim bronze medal at world juniors

Finland edged Russia 4-1 to claim the bronze medal at the 2021 World Junior Championship in Edmonton on Tuesday.

The third-place finish gives Finland its 16th medal in tournament history, while Russia failed to secure a medal for just the third time since 2010.

Russia came flying out of the gates and looked poised to reach the podium when Ilya Safonov scored the opening goal six minutes into the first period. However, as they did all tournament, the Finns came storming back.

Captain Anton Lundell notched the equalizer in the second period before Mikko Petman scored the eventual game-winner in the final frame's early minutes. Lundell and Juuso Parssinen added empty-netters to seal the deal.

Lundell, Ville Heinola, and Mikko Kokkonen were chosen as Finland's top three players of the tournament, which is voted on by a team's coaches.

Yaroslav Askarov, Semyon Chistyakov, and Vasili Podkolzin earned the honors for the Russian squad.