Artturi Lehkonen scored at 3:23 of overtime to give Finland an incredible, 3-2, win over Switzerland. The Finns, 2022 Olympic gold medallists, trailed 2-0 for most of the game but staged a wild rally in the third.

"I think we started a little slowly," said Eetu Luostarinen. "They scored those two quick ones, but we kept thinking, a couple of shots, a couple of goals. That's the way it is. I think we were pretty good in the second period although we didn't score. But everyone was positive on the bench, and once we got the one, we knew we were going to get two."

"This is a tough moment," said Swiss forward Philipp Kurashev. "We stuck to our game plan really well, but you have to play 60 minutes. I don't think we gave up that much, but the pucks went in. It's hard right now to realize that the tournament is over. It sucks. This tournament is only once every four years."

It was clear from the outset space was going to be tough to come by. Nothing given, nothing easy. By the midway mark of the first period, shots favoured the Swiss by a paltry 2-1. Many shots were blocked. Sticks got in the way of passes. No one risked anything. 

But out of this caution came two quick strikes from Switzerland, starting thanks to a terrible play by goalie Juuse Saros behind his goal. He came out to play the puck and was too casual, putting it right on the stick of Ken Jager. Jager spotted Damien Riat in front, and Riat had an open net. He didn’t miss, and at 14:14 it was 1-0 for the Swiss.

Right away the Finns had their only two decent chances of the period, in close by Joel Armia and Eeli Tolvanen, but Leonardo Genoni was in position to make the saves.

Just 72 seconds after Riat’s goal, they added a second on an opportune play by Nino Niederreiter. Pius Suter got the puck in the corner off a turnover, and El Nino moved in, taking the puck off the pass at the top of the circle and wiring a shot over Saros’s glove. It was his first goal of the Olympics. The goalie was being screened by his own defender, Niko Mikkola, who was facing Saros and not entirely sure where the puck was.

The Finns came to life in the second but their energy was matched by a resilient and impenetrable Swiss defence. Finland was in the offensive end for much of the period, but always on the outside, always taking shots through too much traffic, always trying to move the puck while hounded by the defence. 

Genoni was fantastic when called upon. He made a daring pokecheck on Sebastian Aho cutting across the crease. He stymied Lehkonen on two quick shots and again later during sustained pressure.

Nico Hischer had a great chance to increase the Swiss lead, but he, too, was stoned by Saros. A frenzied period from the Finns all the same resulted in nothing on the scoreboard, and as the game went on the Swiss confidence in their play in front of Genoni grew and grew.

It looked like the Swiss would ride that 2-0 score into the sunset. No matter how hard the Finns tried, they couldn't do any damage around Genoni's goal. Miro Heiskanen botched a breakaway and Mikael Granlund had a point-blank shot he drilled into the goalie's midsection.

But finally, Sebastion Aho intercepted a puck along the boards, moved in, and beat Genoni under the blocker at 13:54 of the final period, setting the stage for a thrilling finish. As fate would have it, the Swiss couldn't handle the pressure, and with Saros on the bench, the Finns tied it. Miro Heiskanen put a perfect pass onto the stick of Lehkonen right at the crease, and he re-directed it in at 18:48.

That set the stage for Finland's incredible finish and heartache for the Swiss, who have not won an Olympic medal since 1948.