<p>Finland put four goals without reply past Great Britain last time out having already secured safe passage to the Quarter-finals, but Austria - in third place and fighting for their own place in the last eight - were expected to provide stiffer opposition in Zurich.</p><p>That looked to be the case as Austria survived an early powerplay following holding from Dominic Hackl, in a tense first period that had just 10 shots on goal in total, but Finland finally found a way through in the 19th minute.</p><p>Benjamin Nissner had been called for tripping, and this time the Leijonat didn't pass up the powerplay - <strong>a neat turn in front of the net from Aleksander Barkov allowed him to find Mikael Granlund on the right, and he swept the puck home</strong> to complete a flowing move.</p><p>That goal completely changed the game, as the Finns pulled clear of their opponents in the second period, adding a second goal three minutes in when Waltteri Merala held the puck behind the net before knocking it back to<strong> the arriving Saku Maenalanen, who took it in his stride and buried it.</strong></p><p>A hooking call against Merala did little to halt the Finnish flow - it was 3-0 in the 12th minute of the period when <strong>Jesse Puljujarvi bundled in a rebound</strong> after Anton Lundell's strike was blocked, and less than a minute later it was <strong>Sakari Manninen's turn to be the rebound scorer </strong>after Aatu Raty had a shot saved, as the Finns reached the 40-minute mark 4-0 up.</p><p>Austria were on a three-game losing run having begun the championship with three wins, and they finally showed a glimpse of their better selves in the fourth minute of period three, as <strong>Nissner found the net</strong> shortly after goaltender Justus Annunen lost possession.</p><p>But any hopes of an unlikely comeback were stamped out four minutes later, when Vili Saarijarvi and Leni Hameenaho combined for <strong>Patrik Puistola to add a fifth</strong> for Antti Pennanen's side. <strong>Leon Wallner added a late consolation</strong> for Austria, but <strong>Finland had done more than enough to stay perfect, winning 5-2.</strong></p><p>Austria face the United States in their last group match knowing that a loss will leave them needing big favours from elsewhere to hang onto a top four place.</p><p><strong>Finland will meet Switzerland in the final match in Group A on Tuesday 26th</strong> - both sides have a maximum 18 points from six games, but the Swiss currently lead the group with an incredible +30 goal difference compared to Finland's +22.</p><p><strong>Follow the 2026 World Ice Hockey Championship on Flashscore.</strong></p>