ZÜRICH. Defender Nikolas Matinpalo had plenty of action in the opening match of the World Championships against Germany.

– I haven’t played for a couple of weeks, so it was challenging to get the engines running, and then there were even breakaways, so I was a bit surprised, Matinpalo summarized his match.

The most unusual thing was that Matinpalo, known as a defensive defender, had two breakaways in the match.

Was this the first time you had two breakaways in one match?

– I don’t remember ever having even one breakaway.

Was it clear what kind of solution you were trying to attempt?

– It wasn’t. It probably looked that way. It was quite difficult to score from those.

In addition to the breakaways, Matinpalo was assessed six penalty minutes in the match. First, two minutes for slashing, and shortly after, 2+2 minutes for high-sticking.

– Penalties come sometimes, and sometimes you have to take them. Maybe the lack of playing time showed a bit, Matinpalo commented on his high penalty count.

LUE MYÖS:

Read more