Finland dominated Slovenia in the last game of the evening.

Team Finland showed why it was a medallist at last year’s IIHF In-Line World Championship after earning a 17-3 win over Slovenia in its opening game of the 2003 In-Line Hockey World Championship.

Finland ended the first half of the game with an 8-3 lead after scoring four goals in each the first and second period.

Finland couldn’t pull away in the first period until a shorthanded goal by Krister Piestalo gave Finland a 4-2 lead. Finland’s Sami Jarvenpaa scored just nine seconds into the second period and from there the action remained in front of the Slovenian net for much of the period, but Slovenia goaltender Gasper Krosew made several saves to keep his team in the game.

Slovenia changed its goaltender to Ales Zatoker in the third period, and despite a strong performance, Finland still managed to build on its lead with two additional power-play goals. The bulk of the damage was done late in the fourth period when Finland scored seven unanswered goals to turn the game into a blow out victory.

Finland (1-0) will play Slovakia (0-1) in Group A action. Slovenia (0-2) has the day off before it takes on Slovakia on Tuesday.

Click here for photos from the game.