The Lions prepared for the second to last match of the group stage of the World Championships in Sunday morning practice, where they will face Austria at 21:20 in the evening.

In the morning ice, there were again changes to the lines, as head coach Antti Pennanen made new adjustments to the combinations. The most significant change involved swapping Aatu Räty and Anton Lundell – the same experiment was seen at the end of the third period of the match against Britain on Friday.

In the revamped lines, Patrik Puistola and Lenni Hämeenaho will play alongside Lundell. Meanwhile, Jesse Puljujärvi and Sakari Manninen have been placed in Räty’s line.

In defense, there was reassuring news as Urho Vaakanainen returned to morning practice. The defenseman representing the New York Rangers had been sidelined for the previous two matches due to injury but now appears to be available again.

The Lions’ choice of goalkeeper for the evening’s match has not yet been confirmed.

The Lions’ lines in morning practice:

Forward lines

Mikael Granlund–Aleksander Barkov–Konsta Helenius

Patrik Puistola–Anton Lundell–Lenni Hämeenaho

Sakari Manninen–Aatu Räty–Jesse Puljujärvi

Saku Mäenalanen–Hannes Björninen–Waltteri Merelä

Extra forwards: Janne Kuokkanen, Sami Päivärinta

Defense pairs

Ville Heinola–Henri Jokiharju

Mikko Lehtonen–Vili Saarijärvi

Olli Määttä–Nikolas Matinpalo

Mikael Seppälä–Urho Vaakanainen

LUE MYÖS:

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