MOSCOW, May 18. Finnish hockey players suffered their first defeat at the home world championship , losing in a shootout to the Swedish team. The group B meeting, held on Wednesday in Tampere, ended in the defeat of the hosts with a score of 2:3 (0:1, 2:0, 0:1, 0:0, 0:1). The only accurate shot in the shootout was made by Emil Bemström, and in regulation time the Swedes scored Adam Larsson (12th minute) and Joel Kellman (47). The Finns scored Mikko Lehtonen (24) and Sami Vatanen (26). The Finnish national team broke a three-match winning streak and dropped to second place in the group standings, gaining 10 points. The Swedes also lost their first points in the tournament, but extended their winning streak to four matches. The team of Yukhan Garpenlev topped the group table with 11 points. The World Championship will end on May 29th. The national teams of Russia and Belarus miss the tournament due to the sanctions of the International Ice Hockey Federation. The place of the Russian team was taken by the French team, the Belarusians were replaced by the Austrians.
