The Russian Olympic Committee tops Sweden to make room for the men’s hockey final
The Russian Olympic Committee has advanced to the Olympic hockey final for men after beating Sweden 2-1 in the penalty shootout on Friday.
It is the second in a row of gold medal appearances for the Russians, who during the Olympic Athletes of Russia beat Germany for the title in South Korea 2018.
Since the break from the Soviet Union, Russia, or teams affiliated with it, have won two other medals – a silver in 1998 and a bronze in 2002. Russia’s last gold at the IIHF level for men under the “Russia” banner was at the 2014 World Cup in Minsk after a dominant 10-0 record.
Sweden will be looking for her first medal since she took silver in Sochi eight years ago. Sweden’s last bronze was in 1988 after three tournaments as the third best team.
It was a similar match as Finland’s 1-0 shutout over Slovakia earlier in the day, where neither team took many risks in a defensive match. The lone goal came just 15 seconds into the middle streak when Anton Slepyshev broke in after a Pavel Karnaukhov rush and beat Lars Johansson on his own return.
The lead held until 46:22 when Sweden’s No. 58, Anton Lander, tied the knot. Lander took a return from a shot from the blue line and beat 6-foot-8 goalkeeper Ivan Fedotov to level the game and get up the pulse of the game a bit.
The rest of the match was the next goal-wins territory, but no one could count another goal in the regulation. The reorganization was spectacular, with both teams scoring several goals before Arseni Gritsyuk made the match winner on Russia’s eighth shot to win the match and help the team advance to the final.