Joel Armia scores in his second game with Finland

If I had one word to use to describe Joel Armia, I’d probably go with “enigmatic”. The Finnish winger is loaded with talent and has all the skills to be a great NHL player, but for some reason he’s unable to do so consistently.

That said, on the international scene, he seems to be becoming a completely different player. He had some good moments at the CMJ in the early years of his career, and by 2021, he had scored eight points in 10 games at the Worlds.

Once again this year, Armia is representing Finland at the tournament. His team suffered a 4-1 loss to the Americans yesterday, and today Finland wanted to get back to winning ways as they took on Germany.

And right from the start of the game, the CH forward made sure his team were ahead. Taking advantage of a fine play by Kaapo Kakko, he fired a cannonball past goalkeeper Dustin Strahlmeier

.

Once again, Armia finds a way to shine on the international stage. We know he’s got a good shot, and he wasn’t afraid to use it this afternoon.

Imagine if he used it consistently in Montreal…

That said, despite taking an early lead, the Finns got their money’s worth against the Germans, who never gave up. In fact, after 40 minutes of play, the score was 3-3,

but in the third period, the Finns put the pedal to the metal and finally got the better of their opponents. Mikko Lehtonen scored the winner with just over seven minutes to go in the third period.

IT’S ELECTRIC IN HERE!🤯🎉🇫🇮

Mikko Lehtonen puts @leijonat into the lead!🚨

3-4#IIHFWorlds #GERFIN pic.twitter.com/645nXtqw6T

– IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 13, 2023

The Finns eventually prevailed by a score of 4-3. Armia finishes the game with a point, his first-period goal

, and he

and his teammates will return to action on Monday, when they take on the Swedes. We’ll see if the Tricolore forward can get back on the scoresheet, as he continues to enjoy good times with his national team.

In Brief-

Interesting.

–

Timo Meier played in the second round despite a broken nose.

– A wild rumor has it that the Habs are interested in bringing Tyler Toffoli back to town. I don’t believe it for a second, for what it’s worth. [NHLTR]

– It would save the CH a lot of headaches, especially since the Blue Jackets won’t take him.

– What’s in store for the Warriors this summer? My text on the subject.

–

The Spaniard returns to the top of the ATP rankings.