Sochi 2014: Men's Results Medal Games

Gold Medal Game: Canada v Sweden 3-0 - Canada got it all Sunday at Bolshoy Ice Dome in a clinical 3-0 victory against Sweden in the gold-medal game of the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Jonathan Toews and Sidney Crosby scored their first goals of the tournament, and Carey Price made 24 saves, to help Canada become the first repeat gold-medal winner since the Soviet Union/Unified Team won three in a row from 1984-92. Price didn't give up a goal in the final 164:19 of the tournament. He was named the best goaltender of the tournament by the IIHF, and led all goaltenders with a 0.59 goals-against average and .972 save percentage. Chris Kunitz also scored his first Olympic goal in the third period.
"For us to be able to execute on the biggest stage and play the way we did, and there was lots of complaints early that we didn't score, I thought we were dominant," Former Whitley Warrior and Canada coach Mike Babcock said. "I thought we played great."
Sweden was forced to play without its top center, Nicklas Backstrom of the Washington Capitals, who, according to team officials, was suspended by the International Olympic Committee because of a failed drug test. Backstrom said he was tested Wednesday after the quarterfinal win against Slovenia. Backstrom said he has been taking an over-the-counter allergy medication, Zyrtec-D, for the past seven years, but the level of pseudoephedrine found in his urine was deemed too high by the IOC. The Capitals released a statement saying Backstrom has been taking the allergy medication intermittently for seven years, including this season, and the medicine had been approved by the Swedish national team. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement that the banned substance Backstrom tested positive for was not on the NHL list of banned substances and it likely would not affect his playing status with the Capitals.
"Subject to confirmation of the facts as we understand them, and given the fact that the substance is neither prohibited in the NHL nor was used in an improper manner here, we do not anticipate there being any consequences relative to Nicklas' eligibility to participate in games for the Washington Capitals," Daly said.
Sweden already was playing without its initial No. 1 center, Henrik Zetterberg, who withdrew from the tournament after one game due to a herniated disk. Another top center, Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks, was sidelined before the Olympics began due to a rib injury.
"If we're going to compete with Canada we need all the best players here and unfortunately we have some injuries, and of course Backstrom, what happened with him, that affected us," Sweden coach Par Marts made excuses for. "It's only human beings sitting in there."
For all the scrutinizing of the roster and the overanalyzing and debating of the decisions Babcock has made since the team arrived in Russia two weeks ago, Canada won its second straight gold medal and third in the past four Olympics without ever trailing in the tournament and giving up three goals. Canada executive director Steve Yzerman said he believes it is the best defensive performance ever by a Canadian team. Babcock said it was because Canada never abandoned its game plan to attack its opposition in waves, creating offense off its defense and controlling possession as often as it possibly could. That was the message in August at Canada's Olympic orientation camp and it never changed right on through the tournament. The Canadians scored 17 goals in six games. They beat Finland, Latvia and the United States by one goal each despite dominating time of possession, chances for and against, and shots on goal in all of the games. Canada had 241 shots on goal in the tournament; it allowed 129.
"When you talk about great defense sometimes we get confused," Babcock said. "Great defense means you play defense fast and you have the puck all the time so you're always on offense. Don't get confused, we outchanced these teams big-time; we didn't score. We were a great offensive team. That's how we coached. That's what we expected. That's what we got. We didn't ask guys to back up. The interesting thing for me when I look at this whole scenario is does anybody know who won the scoring race? Does anybody care? Does anybody know who won the gold medal? See ya."
At that point Babcock left the press conference because he was going to walk in the closing ceremonies. He didn't really need to say anything more. Canada stifled the United States in the semifinals by playing fast and owning the middle of the ice in a 1-0 win. It did the same thing against Sweden, which generated four shots on goal and no second-chance opportunities in the third period. When he was asked how many second-chance opportunities he thinks Sweden had in the entire game, Price responded, "I would guess less than one."
"We couldn't really break through a brick wall," Sweden forward Loui Eriksson said.

Toews and Crosby, who were part of the gold medal team from the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Stanley Cup champions, answered in the big moment, just as they have done their entire careers. They also scored in the gold-medal game four years ago. Crosby had been taking heat from media and fans for not scoring in the tournament heading into the gold-medal game, but Babcock said Crosby was a dominant player against the U.S. and Sweden. He gave Canada a 2-0 lead 15:43 into the second period by converting on a breakaway that he created for himself with a smart defensive play at the Sweden blue line.
"You get a chance like that late in the second to know you can go up two, you want to make sure that you make the most of it," Crosby said. "I remember in Vancouver I missed one with a couple minutes left and they ended up tying it. Nice to be able to get that one and get a bit of a cushion."
For the second straight Olympic gold-medal game, Toews gave Canada the lead in the first period. He did it 12:55 into the game when he gained inside position on Sweden forward Patrik Berglund and got his stick down to redirect Jeff Carter's hard pass out of the right circle. Toews didn't have any goals going into the gold-medal game four years ago either, but he said after winning gold in Vancouver that he could feel it he was going to get one in a big spot. He had that same feeling Sunday.
"I think like the last time it just felt like it was coming," Toews said. "It was a lot like the playoffs last year … I was just sticking with it and trying to find a gritty one, and I knew something was going to land on my tape at some point. Happened to be [Sunday]. It's a pretty good feeling to get one and get our team off to the right start."
Just as he did against the U.S. on Friday, Price had to make a couple of good saves, but he wasn't tested nearly as much as Sweden goalie Henrik Lundqvist (33 saves). Price, though, had some luck on his side early in the first period, before Canada established the pace with which it wanted to play. Gustav Nyquist walked in from the right side and rang a close-in shot off the left post. The puck squirted behind Price and danced near the goal line before the Montreal Canadiens goalie contorted his body enough to cover the puck with his glove. The iron helped Sweden a few minutes later when Canada's Patrice Bergeron rang a shot off the left post. Toews, though, found the back of the net a few shifts after that. The Swedes never could respond. They didn't stand a chance.
"We're just an amazing team to watch, the way we work together," Toews said. "We were just all over them."


Bronze Medal Game: USA v Finland 0-5 - Finland captain Teemu Selanne had the floor in the dressing room before the 2014 Sochi Olympics hockey tournament bronze-medal game Saturday. As he does each time he speaks, he demanded the attention of his teammates. This was it for the 43-year-old Selanne, his last game for Finland's national team, nearly 26 years after he first put on the Suomi sweater. Finland lost its chance to win gold Friday in a one-goal defeat to Sweden. But the game Saturday was for a medal, and it was against the United States. Selanne wanted to make sure everyone in the dressing room knew how much it mattered to him, how much it should matter to them.
"He was saying for the younger guys this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to win the medal because there are no guarantees who is going to be here in four years and you don't want to throw these chances away," forward Olli Jokinen said. "There are not many hockey players who are going to be able to say they have an Olympic medal in their office. It was a message for all of us."
Selanne put some heft behind his pep talk, scoring two goals to help carry Finland to a 5-0 win against the United States at Bolshoy Ice Dome. The goals were his third and fourth of the tournament. He has 24 career goals in an Olympic run that began in Albertville in 1992. Selanne, who has already announced that this will be his last season in the NHL and his last Olympics, finishes his Olympic career with four medals in six tournaments. He helped Finland get the silver medal in 2006 and the bronze medal in 1998, 2010 and now 2014. He also played in the Olympics in 1992 and 2002. Finland has now won a medal in four of the five Olympics which have included NHL players and in five of the past six. Its haul includes one silver medal and four bronze medals.
"If you would write the story about this, there couldn't be a better ending," Selanne said. "Maybe winning the gold medal, but that was not reality. This is great, a happy ending."
The Americans couldn't cash in on an opportunity to medal in back-to-back Olympics for the first time since 1956 and 1960. They took home the silver four years ago in Vancouver after an overtime loss to Canada, following a 6-1 win against Finland in the semifinals, but were shut out in their final two games here after scoring 19 goals in their first four. Canada beat them 1-0 in the semifinals Friday. Patrick Kane missed on two penalty shots Saturday and Finland goalie Tuukka Rask made 27 saves to keep the Americans off the board.
"The way we played the last two games we didn't deserve it [a medal]," U.S. captain Zach Parise said. "We got out-played. We didn't deserve to win either of them. Coming into the final round I thought we were playing well. I'm kind of embarrassed where we're at now."
The Finns had a 2-0 lead going into the third period on goals from Selanne and Jussi Jokinen early in the second, but they opened it up with three goals in a span of less than seven minutes in the third period. Juuso Hietanen scored at 6:10, as Finland's power play expired, to make it 3-0. Selanne scored his second of the game less than three minutes later and Olli Maatta cashed in with a power-play goal with 6:51 to play. Jonathan Quick, who made 36 saves in the loss to Canada on Friday, had 24 saves Saturday. U.S. coach Dan Bylsma said it was difficult for his team to bounce back after the loss to Canada less than 24 hours before the bronze-medal game.
"We didn't show up," U.S. forward Max Pacioretty said. "We let our country down; that's it."
The Finns had no problems bouncing back from their 2-1 loss to Sweden in the semifinals. All they did was play their tough team game, the same brand of hockey they have been playing for years. It paid off with back-to-back goals 11 seconds apart in the second period. The U.S.'s top defense pairing of Ryan Suter and Ryan McDonagh was on the ice for both goals. Selanne scored 1:27 into the period thanks, in part, to a strong play in the neutral zone from Mikael Granlund, who beat James van Riemsdyk to the puck and was able to swipe a backhanded pass to Selanne. The Finnish captain did the rest with a hard, low shot on the backhand which snuck inside the left post. Jussi Jokinen scored 11 seconds later on what was really a broken defensive play by the Americans. Jori Lehtera was able to pass the puck around McDonagh from the left circle, but Suter was caught in no-man's land, too far away to pick off the pass yet unable to defend Jokinen once the puck came to him. Quick was also high out of the crease near the left circle, so he wasn't able to get back across to stop Jokinen's one-timer.
"That was a great pass from Jori," Jokinen said. "Those are the passes I'm used to getting from Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh. That's what I told him after the goal, too. I'm used to putting those in the net."
Kane had two penalty-shot attempts within the first 27 minutes of the game, but his backhand went a few inches wide to the right of Rask's pad in the first period and he rifled a shot off the right post in the second period.
"I wasn't good enough to help the team win a medal," Kane said. "Obviously, I was expected to do a lot more. When you come over here and put up zero goals and four assists in six games, it's not the numbers you want to see. Definitely disappointing."

Sochi 2014: Men's Results Semi Final Results

Finland v Sweden 1-2 - Sweden is short two of its three world-class players named Henrik, but one just might be enough to win them gold given the rest of the talent available. New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist made 25 saves and the Swedes parlayed strong defense and the lone special-teams goal of the game into a 2-1 victory Friday against archrival Finland in a 2014 Sochi Olympics semifinal to advance to the gold-medal game Sunday at Bolshoy Ice Dome. Sweden will play Canada on Sunday in the gold-medal game and has a chance to win it for the second time in three Olympics. Finland will play the United States on Saturday in the bronze-medal game.
"We've been told that we're kind of up there but not really with Canada, Russia and the U.S.," Sweden forward Daniel Alfredsson said. "We got into this tournament and we've played pretty good but not great and everyone has looked for us to be better. [Friday] we came through with a huge game when we needed to and that's a great feeling. We definitely deserved to win [Friday] and we're going to enjoy this for a few hours and then we have one big test left. We want to make sure we go home with the gold and make Sunday's game our best yet."
The tournament began with Sweden short Vancouver Canucks center Henrik Sedin and Detroit Red Wings forward Johan Franzen. Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg, who filled the same role on the Swedish team, was lost to injury during the preliminary round. But this group, led by Lundqvist and Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson, has reached the final. The Swedes haven't dominated at times but they also rarely have been threatened. Sweden has trailed twice in four games for a total of six minutes, 45 seconds.
"I think [Friday] we played really, really well [defensively]," Karlsson said. "I think it won us the game [Friday]. We were really sound in the neutral zone and the defensive zone and took away their speed as much as we could. We really didn't give them any of the quality scoring chances that we've been giving up earlier in the tournament. [Lundqvist] has been playing unbelievable for us as well. In that part we feel pretty confident."
It was the 76th time Sweden and Finland have played in the IIHF World Championships or the Olympics; Sweden holds a 44-17-15 edge and has won the past three meetings in the Olympics, including victories in the preliminary round four years ago in Vancouver and in the gold-medal game eight years ago in Turin. Finland won the prior important meeting between the teams, a 6-1 victory at the 2011 IIHF World Championship. The Finns also have been the most consistent country in the Olympics since the NHL started sending players in 1998. They've won a medal three times in the four Olympics played with NHL players and could make it a fourth Saturday. However, that haul does not include a gold medal.
"Obviously it has been a great tournament and I'm very proud of our team," Finland captain Teemu Selanne said. "It is obviously disappointing to lose this game but [Saturday] still is a lot to win. A bronze medal would be an unbelievable thing, so that is our goal now even though it is very disappointing right now."
Finland had four of the first five power plays Friday but could not convert, including a 5-on-3 for 1:35 in the first period.
"Little things," Finland coach Erkka Westerlund said with a sigh. "For example [Friday] we had chances to win this game but we also had difficult periods."
Sweden got a second man-advantage late in the second period and cashed in for the lead. Karlsson ripped a shot from the top of the offensive zone that ticked off goaltender Kari Lehtonen's right arm and under the crossbar. It was Karlsson's fourth goal of the tournament. He has eight points, which tied him with Phil Kessel of the United States for the lead.
"I think he's really enjoying himself playing in the Olympics with great players," Alfredsson said. "It seems like he can blossom even more when he's surrounded by Sedin and [Nicklas] Backstrom and [Alexander] Steen. They make him look even better I think. It is amazing to me that he is 23 years old and playing as mature as he is. Everybody talks about him with making mistakes here and there, but it was an Olympic semifinal and I think he played outstanding. Smart, was in the right position most of the time, joined the rush when he needed. But I was really impressed with his game."
Patrik Berglund said, "He's the best D-man-slash-forward in the world. We're happy to have him. It's hard sometime when you're practicing and you count four forwards all the time. You wonder where your guy is. But so far so good."
Winnipeg Jets forward Olli Jokinen opened the scoring for Finland with his second goal of the tournament, at 6:17 of the second period. Anaheim Ducks defenseman Sami Vatanen sent the puck out of his zone and into the left corner in Sweden's end but a linesman waved off icing. Jokinen won the race to the puck and snapped a shot that leaked through Lundqvist and across the goal line. The goal initially was waved off, but after a video review the goal stood and Finland had a 1-0 lead. The Finns controlled more of the play after the goal but Loui Eriksson tied the game less than five minutes later. Backstrom sent a pass from beyond the goal line to Jonathan Ericsson, who fed Eriksson at the far side of the net for his second goal of the tournament at 11:39. Lehtonen was a surprise starter for this game. The Dallas Stars goaltender had to step in because Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask was out with an illness. Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks was the backup. When Finland plays for bronze Saturday it will mark the end of an era. Selanne, the best player in the country's history, will skate in his final Olympic game in a Suomi jersey.
"I have a nice trophy case at home," Selanne said. "Three medals from Olympics. It would be nice to have four."
USA v Canada 0-1 OT - If Canada keeps playing with the same electric, stifling pace it put on display against the United States, it might only be one goal away from winning another gold medal. Good thing too, because the Canadians haven't exactly lit up the scoresheet in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Nor have they had to. Carey Price made 31 saves and Jamie Benn's goal early in the second period was all Canada needed to beat the U.S. 1-0 in the semifinals at Bolshoy Ice Dome on Friday in what was a rematch of the gold-medal game from four years ago. The Canadians once again prevailed by one goal; only this time they didn't need overtime to do it, and there wasn't a medal on the line. There will be Sunday, when Canada plays Sweden in the gold-medal game, a matchup that features the two countries that have won the past three gold medals (Canada in 2002 and 2010, Sweden in 2006). The U.S. will play Finland for the bronze medal on Saturday.
"You have to line up the moon and stars to win," Canada coach Mike Babcock said. "People don't believe that in Canada, but it's the facts. These teams are great. You have two great teams out there today, unbelievable talent, and the score is 1-0. The goalies are good. The game is tight. It's hard. You always feel fortunate when you get an opportunity to advance."
The Canadians earned their opportunity by playing the same style of hockey that got the Americans into the semifinals, only they played it better. Their forwards were fiercely fast and relentless. Their defensemen always appeared to be in the right position. Canada was able to control the pace of the game and limit the quality chances against Price. Canada scored one goal Friday and has 14 in five games, yet it will carry a plus-11 goal-differential into the gold-medal game. The Canadians have allowed three goals in the tournament.
"I think we've been good defensively the whole time," Babcock said. "It's hard to get real good players to be committed as our group is defensively, and yet we haven't scored. No one seems to care. It doesn't matter. You just want another opportunity."
On the other side, the Americans came into the game with 19 goals in four games, but they couldn't find any room in the middle of the ice Friday. They seemed to be on their heels for most of the game, trying to survive before Benn scored 1:41 into the second period. They could never catch up. Canada wouldn't let them.
"They came at us with 20 guys [Friday night]," U.S. coach Dan Bylsma said. "They came at us with speed and for 60 minutes. That was a fast game. That was as fast a game as I think I've ever been a part of. There's lots of speed out there, it was up and down the ice. We weren't able to counter that. We weren't able to match that as much as we'd like."
The U.S. had chances, such as Phil Kessel's shot off the rush 30 seconds into the game, one Price stopped with his pads. John Carlson joined a play late and fired hard shot through a screen 5:25 into the first period, but Price snatched it with his glove. Max Pacioretty had an opportunity at the left side of the net off a pretty cross-slot pass from Patrick Kane, but Canada defended it well. T.J. Oshie had a shot squeeze through Price only to dribble wide of the net. But those were the memorable chances, and there were four of them. Worse yet, the Americans drew a blank on the power play, going 0-for-3, including two opportunities in the second period after Benn scored.
"We didn't have any energy," said U.S. defenseman Ryan Suter, who played a game-high 26:11. "We didn't have a forecheck. We weren't very good."
U.S. goalie Jonathan Quick was, but his 36 saves were only good enough to keep the Americans in the game. Benn and Jay Bouwmeester made the one play that made the difference. It started in the right circle, where Benn used his backhand to thread a diagonal pass up to Bouwmeester, who was at the left point. Benn cut to the net as Bouwmeester wound up. David Backes came out to challenge the shot, only it wasn't a shot; it was a pass that went right to the tape of Benn's stick. The puck ricocheted off his blade and sailed past Quick on the glove side into the net.
"Jay made a great pass, shot pass, and I found a way to get my stick on it," Benn said.
With how the game played out, and how good the goaltending was, nobody was surprised it took a deflection goal for one of these teams to reach the gold-medal game.
"There were better chances than the goal for both teams; they didn't go in," Babcock said. "That one went in. I thought our team got momentum at that time, and then forechecked harder and were on top of them more from that point on."
The challenge Sunday against Sweden will be much different. The Americans played a hard, up-and-down, North American game on the big ice; the Swedes will try to use the big ice to spread out the Canadians, much like Finland was able to do against them in the preliminary round. Canada controlled most of that 2-1 win as well, and had to get an overtime goal from Drew Doughty to win it. One goal has been the difference in three of Canada's five wins here. If that proves to be the case again Sunday, it will be worth its weight in gold.
"We've had unbelievable opportunities and still haven't finished," Babcock said. "We're going to finish. We just hope we don't run out of time."

Sochi 2014: Womens Finals

Gold Medal Game: USA v Canada 2-3 OT - For the fourth consecutive Winter Olympics, the Canadian women's hockey team celebrated while the Americans were forced to watch. This one just proved to be more incredible, or perhaps more painful, than the rest. Marie-Philip Poulin scored a power-play goal 8:10 into overtime, her second goal of the game, to give Canada a 3-2 overtime victory against the archrival United States and the gold medal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics in front of 10,639 at Bolshoy Ice Dome.

"It's an amazing moment," Poulin said. "We all know it was a team effort. We never gave up. I'm so happy we got it back. It was a great journey."

Poulin also scored twice in a 2-0 victory for Canada against the United States in the final at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Canada has won four consecutive gold medals since the United States won the inaugural women's tournament at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. That was Canada's last loss at the Olympics, and this victory stretched the winning streak to 20 games. The Americans have won four of the past five IIHF Women's World Championships and defeated the Canadians in four consecutive exhibitions leading up to Sochi, but Canada prevailed 3-2 in the group stage and retained its title as Olympic champions.

"We train our whole lives to win a gold medal here. It's the world stage," American defenseman Megan Bozek said. "We've been put in situations, not the Olympics like this, the past four years. This is what we trained for. We didn't train for a silver. We trained for a gold medal."

The Canadians scored twice in the final 3:26 of regulation to force the overtime. Brianne Jenner started the Canadian comeback. Her shot was going well wide of the net, but it hit U.S. defenseman Kacey Bellamy in the knee and changed course. Poulin punched one past American goaltender Jessie Vetter from the edge of the crease with 54.6 seconds left to level the score at 2-2. Before Canada tied it, the Americans had a chance to ice the game, but Kelli Stack's try at an empty net from her own blue line hit the left post.

"That's how you just know that it wasn't our night," Stack said. "The puck literally just missed going in by an inch. So we just have to tell ourselves that everything happens for a reason and if we were meant to win gold medals that puck would have went in the back of the net."

On the day Canada also won gold in women's curling, forward Hayley Wickenheiser had it on her mind as the puck drifted towards the empty goal.

"I just said, 'sweep, sweep it. Get it wide,'" Wickenheiser said. "I didn't think it was going to go in by the angle but you never know. It turned the game around, really gave us another life. I mean, what a finish."

The gold medal is the fourth for Wickenheiser, forward Jayna Hefford and captain Caroline Ouellette, and they equaled the record for consecutive Winter Olympics with a gold medal in any sport. It is the first with the team for coach Kevin Dineen, who began the 2013-14 season as the coach of the Florida Panthers. He was fired November 8, and a little more than a month later surprisingly took the job as coach of Canada's women's national team less than two months before the trip to Sochi.

"Sometimes a door closes, another one opens. I don't know how that all works out," Dineen said. "I haven't read the manual on where I go from here. It's a little bit of a left turn to take on this job. As I told my players before the game, the first time I met with them, I couldn't wait to get on the ice with them. In the last two months, I think I've become better at what I've done."

As for U.S. coach Katey Stone, she had her own opinion regarding the "left turn" Dineen took in his coach career. "I think you took a right turn, not a left turn," she joked.

The sequence leading up to Poulin's golden goal included a couple of controversial decisions by the officials. Six seconds after Canada defenseman Catherine Ward was sent to the penalty box at 6:09 of overtime, United States forward Jocelyne Lamoureux was called for slashing when she took a whack with her stick after goaltender Shannon Szabados covered the puck. Already 4-on-4 for overtime, it meant nearly two minutes of 3-on-3 action. Wickenheiser was tripped by Hillary Knight on a breakaway and the referee initially pointed to center ice for a penalty shot, but the call was changed to cross-checking. Poulin scored 39 seconds later on the 4-on-3 after a feed from defenseman Laura Fortino. After initially saying "no comment" when asked about the controversial calls, Stone offered a more thorough response when asked if the officiating needed to be better at this level.

"I think it is no different, officiating, developing players, developing programs, the game is growing by leaps and bounds," Stone said. "The speed and pace of the game is tremendous. It is a great, great product. We have to make sure that every part of the game operation, the game management, is developing at as fast a rate as it possibly can."

United States captain Meghan Duggan opened the scoring at 11:57 of the second period. Alex Carpenter made it 2-0 for the United States 2:01 into the third period. Knight had the puck on the outside of the left circle and fed Carpenter near the right post for a directed shot off the right post and in. Carpenter is the daughter of Bobby Carpenter, who was the third pick in the 1981 NHL Draft by the Washington Capitals and had 728 points in 1,178 career NHL games for five teams. After the game concluded, the Canadian fans in the arena completed their own rendition of "Oh, Canada" before the proper version after the medals were awarded. Players then waved flags on the ice and celebrated with victory cigars in the dressing room.

"We believed," Wickenheiser said. "We had the experience and the ability to come back and do what needed to be done. I'm just so proud of our team and we stayed classy the whole way through it. That was a big win for us."

There was jubilation and there was despair, just as there is every time the two superpowers of women's hockey meet at the end of the sport's biggest tournaments. The Americans were stunned, searching for answers as how this could have happened, and how Canada's stranglehold on the gold continues at this event.

"There really isn't much to say. You can't take the sting away," Stone said. "You just have to tell them how proud of them you are and how much they mean to you and what a tremendous privilege and honor it was to be a part of it."

Bronze Medal Game: Sweden v Switzerland 3-4 - The losing didn't bother the Swiss women's hockey team, even as it was slogging through the round-robin without a victory and finishing last in its group. Sure, the 9-0 loss to the United States hurt. But a 5-0 victory by Canada was the closest Switzerland had ever come to the three-time defending Olympic champions, and a playoff victory over Russia put the Swiss in the semifinals. When they lost just 3-1 to Canada in the semifinals, they felt like they were ready to claim their first women's hockey medal in the country's Olympic history.

"We didn't care about the color of a medal," said Florence Schelling, who stopped 28 shots to help Switzerland beat Sweden 4-3 in the bronze medal game on Thursday. "A medal is a medal."

Jessica Lutz broke a third-period tie with 6:17 to play as Switzerland rallied from a two-goal deficit with four straight third-period goals to earn just its second victory of the Sochi Games. Sara Benz and Phoebe Stanz scored to help Switzerland tie the game, and Aline Muller scored a 175-foot empty-netter with 67 seconds left that turned out to be the difference.

"Everybody believed in those two goals, and then we even scored four," Stanz said. "When the first goal went in, that's like when the knot unties. That's how it was for our team. The second goal going in, that just showed us that it only takes one more goal to win this game."

Because of the tournament format, Switzerland was lumped in a round-robin group with the three top-ranked teams in the world -- including the United States and Canada, who were scheduled to play for the gold medal later Thursday. But it also meant the Swiss were guaranteed a spot in the playoffs without winning a game, and they needed just one victory to reach the medal round. So, when they lost as expected to the U.S., Canada and Finland, they never lost their confidence.

"We knew it would be like that, and we were really prepared for that," forward Katrin Nabholz said. "When it was 2-0, we knew we had nothing to lose. Then, we are at our best."

Valentina Wallner stopped 22 shots for Sweden. Michelle Lowenheilm scored in the first period, and Erica Uden Johansson made it 2-0 with 62 seconds left in the second period on a long, fluttering goal that Schelling, who played at Northeastern University in Boston, allowed to tip off the webbing of her glove. The Swiss cut the deficit to 2-1 early in the third when a deflected puck skittered over to Benz in the slot, and she slapped it past Wallner. With 13:47 left in regulation, Stanz scored on a rebound. The game was still tied 2-2 when Lara Stalder kept the puck in the zone and skated in before shuffling it over to the middle for Lutz, who flipped it past Wallner for the go-ahead goal. Muller's empty-netter seemed to clinch it but, with the goalie still pulled, Pernilla Winberg cut it to 4-3 with 44 seconds left. Sweden spent the last 30 seconds trying to clear the puck out of its own zone, though, and when the last seconds ticked off the clock the Swiss poured over the boards and threw their equipment into the air in celebration. Because of the dominance of the North Americans, who have won every gold medal and all but one silver in Olympic history, the rest of the world is essentially playing for third place.

"The bronze medal is our goal. The medal games were our goal," Benz said. "Of course we wanted to win every game, but maybe next Olympics."

Sochi 2014: Mens Results Quarter Finals

Slovenia v Sweden -


Russia v Finland -


Latvia v Canada -


Czech Republic v USA -

Sochi 2014: Mens Results Playoffs

Norway v Russia 0-4 - Ilya Kovalchuk said after Russia's shootout win against Slovakia on Sunday assured the host nation of having to play a qualification playoff game to advance to the quarterfinals at the 2014 Sochi Olympics that he would rather face Norway instead of just practicing. That was some practice Russia had Tuesday. Alexander Radulov scored twice to give Russia a 4-0 win against Norway, setting up a quarterfinal matchup with Finland on Wednesday.

"I think we didn't give them much and that's a good sign,” said Kovalchuk, who scored Russia's second goal of the game at 17:11 of the second period to create some breathing room for his team. "We have less than 24 hours to prepare for the next game. We have to take the time to prepare the best we can."

The high-powered Russian attack sputtered again one game after failing to score through 60 minutes of regulation and five minutes of overtime against Slovakia. Russia led 2-0 on Tuesday until Radulov scored his second of the game into an empty net at 18:53 of the third. Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin each have one goal in four games as their line has been overshadowed offensively by Pavel Datsyuk's line with Radulov and Kovalchuk.

"The most important thing right now is the team," Ovechkin said. "It's not about personal stats, it's not about the goal-scoring lead. We're here to win the gold. It's not about winning scoring titles and all that kind of stuff."

If Norway was able to keep Russia at bay, one can only imagine what will happen against Finland, which lost 2-1 in overtime to Canada on Sunday in its final preliminary-round game.

"That is most important game for us," said Russia goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who stopped 22 shots for the shutout. "It's like a final game."

The game was scoreless through one period and Russia generated few chances, creating a nervous energy among the 11,423 at Bolshoy Ice Dome that has been present for all four of Russia's games, only one of which has come against a traditional hockey power, Saturday against the United States.

"There are 12,000 supporters every game and that's to help us," Russia defenseman Andrei Markov said. "We just have to do our best on the ice so they can go home happy."

Norway's Olympic tournament came to an end without its best player in the lineup. New York Rangers forward and leading scorer Mats Zuccarello did not dress due to a left hand injury, leaving Norway shorthanded at the most crucial time. Captain Ole-Kristian Tollefsen took little consolation from playing two tight games against Canada and Russia and instead looked at where Norway fell short.

"Disappointing," Tollefsen said. "We didn't make our goal; that was the quarterfinals. It was a good game against Canada, I thought we battled hard and showed them what we're good for. Finland we didn't come out good enough, got behind the 8-ball right away and Austria too. That was the game we wanted to win and we're really disappointed we didn't. We would have played Slovenia [Tuesday] and maybe have a better chance."

However, the Norwegians played hard Tuesday and focused on protecting goaltender Lars Haugen, who sees several of the Russian players on a regular basis with HC Dinamo Minsk in the Kontinental Hockey League. Haugen was up to the task Tuesday, stopping 27 shots, including a number of quality chances in the second period as Russia outshot Norway 14-6. It was the second time Haugen allowed three goals against a hockey superpower after his 35-save effort in the opening game of the tournament against Canada.

"There wasn't that many shots; it was more just playing in our zone," Haugen said. "It was kind of the same thing against Canada, only they shoot a little bit more."

Russia's two goals in the second period were produced by the line of Datsyuk, Radulov and Kovalchuk. Radulov opened the scoring at 13:08 on a lucky bounce, wheeling around the net and sending a pass in front that went in off Norway defenseman Jonas Holos.

"It's very important," Ovechkin said of getting the first goal. "It's the kind of situation when you feel free after that. We know we have to score one and they're going to give us more chances because they're probably going to play more aggressive in the neutral zone and give us more time and space."

Russia began to buzz around the Norway zone after the Radulov goal, getting a number of quality chances in the following minutes. They made it 2-0 at 17:11 when Datsyuk found Radulov in front for a shot that hit the post but was tapped in by Kovalchuk.

"I feel like we were doing a pretty good job, but they get some lucky bounces at the start of the second," Haugen said. "Instead of them getting frustrated we started to get nervous. That was a little bit unlucky there for us."

Radulov scored into an empty net at 18:53 to make it 3-0 and Alexei Tereshenko scored shortly after that to make the score look like the game wasn't as close as it actually was. But it was the insurance goal scored by Kovalchuk that ensured he wouldn't have to eat his words from two days prior, and Russia withstood a bit of a final charge from Norway in the third period to coast to victory. With that a nation exhaled for a day, until the nerves return for Russia's quarterfinal game against Finland on Wednesday.

"They're a good team. They've got a good goalie and we have to find a way to beat him if we want a chance to win," Kovalchuk said of the Finns. "I think we play better and better with each game. Even with Slovakia I think we played well and created a lot of chances. We didn't score much but it was a big win for us [Tuesday]."

Latvia v Switzerland 3-1 - The message of Ted Nolan since he took over the Latvian team has been two-fold. First, he stressed that the Latvians were good players capable of doing great things. Also, he stressed that anything can happen in a short tournament. Tuesday, his players proved him a prophet on both counts at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Latvia, the No. 11 seed in the qualification playoffs without a win in three preliminary games, knocked off Switzerland, 3-1, Tuesday night at Bolshoy Ice Dome. Switzerland, the No. 6 seed in the qualification playoffs, is also the holder of the silver medal from the 2013 World Championships.
"It's great," said Kaspars Daugavins, the Latvian forward. "It's something amazing. Not many people believed we could do it. And we proved a lot of people wrong."
Now, the Latvians face Canada, the Group B champion, in the 9 p.m. game at Bolshoy Ice Dome on Wednesday night. Tuesday night, the pedigrees of the two teams did not matter. Neither did the fact that Switzerland had won the first meeting, in the preliminary round on Wednesday, with a goal with eight seconds remaining. All that mattered was that the Latvians were on board with their coach, ready to prove that a first trip for the country to the quarterfinals was not only a possibility, but a done deal.
"To get a win at the Olympics is something we would all like to have," Nolan said. "To go a little bit further is what we are here for. That is what the Olympics are all about. Miracles can happen."
The Latvians were not shy about calling what transpired Tuesday night as the greatest hockey thing to happen to their country.
"Those chances to get in the quarterfinals don't come along very often, so we have been waiting for this chance for four years," said forward Lauris Darzins, who scored Latvia's second and empty-net goals.
Oskars Bartulis scored the opening goal, a slapper through traffic, that beat Jonas Hiller (19 saves) to the far post to set the tone for Latvia, which took a 2-0 lead into intermission and then held on after Martin Pluss cut the deficit in half with 24:59 remaining. Switzerland, despite several Grade A opportunities, could not get the tying goal.
"It's a huge disappointment for Swiss hockey," alternate captain Mark Streit said. "We didn't achieve what we wanted to. It's not a setback; it's just tough to explain."
Latvia played a typical Latvian game, using an opportunistic defense, a physical checking game and the stout goaltending of Edgars Masalskis (32 saves) to stymie the Swiss.
"We played as a team, we stuck together, even when the times got tough in the game," said team captain Sandis Ozolinsh. "Now, I am really proud of this group of guys. Each one of them is responsible for this win as much as the other guys."
Ozolinsh, a defenseman, played a team-high 21:52 to lead the way. He has been around the Latvian national team since 1998, playing with the Soviet Union team before that. This victory means the world to him.
"Sandis, he loves the game," Nolan said. "He competes all the time. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. The last qualifier when he decided to come back to the national team, he led us in that tournament and he's leading us here today. I don't know if I'm coaching the team or he's coaching the team, but he's doing a great job."
Ozolinsh is front and center for the Latvians, owning a resume that features both international success and NHL success. But, the goalie, Masalskis, also is revered by many in the Latvian room. He played a huge game Tuesday, making several highlight-reel saves. None was better than a lightning-fast glove-hand save of a one-timer from Andres Ambuhl ticketed for the top corner. Somehow, Masalskis got his glove in the path of the puck before falling forward. He remained face-down on the ice for several seconds in a combination of exhaustion and satisfaction. He also stopped Reto Suri on a semi-breakaway just before Darzins scored his empty-netter.
"Our goalie just stood on his head to give us the win," said Zemgus Girgensons, the young Latvian forward who plays for Nolan in Buffalo.
The reward for the biggest win in the country's hockey history is playing the defending Olympic gold-medal champion. But, after Tuesday night, the Latvians know that anything is possible. They believe, like their coach taught them to believe. They are ready.
"It's going to be really tough for us, but we'll try to give them a hard time," Daugavins said. "You never know, miracles happened before, as long as we earn the miracle. We just have to go out there and work hard and have fun, just as we did today. Our goalie might stop every shot, he's good. You never know."



Slovakia v Czech Republic - The 2014 Sochi Olympics were barely more than 24 minutes old for the Czech Republic players and they were already down four goals to Sweden. After beating undermanned Latvia in underwhelming fashion, the Czechs failed to score against Switzerland, landing in third place in Group C and looking like a dysfunctional group. A strong start proved decisive Tuesday against rival Slovakia and, despite some nervy moments near the end, the Czechs are suddenly one game from playing for a medal. Roman Cervenka scored a pair of goals to help the Czech Republic defeat Slovakia 5-3 to set up a date Wednesday with the United States in the quarterfinals.

"We talked before the game with the guys and we wanted to have a better start than we had in the previous three games," Montreal Canadiens center Tomas Plekanec said. "It was our weakest part, the starts of the games. I thought we did a good job on that, but after that it was the opposite. Now we have to have a meeting about the second half."

The Slovaks got within a goal after falling behind 4-0 to start the game, but a slashing penalty to prevent a 2-on-1 in the final minute and an empty-net goal from Plekanec ended any doubt. If the tournament has been a struggle for the Czechs, it proved to be something worse for their neighbors to the southeast. Slovakia failed to win a game in four tries in Sochi. This is the first time that's ever happened for any of the countries commonly referred to as the "big seven." Slovakia has competed in six straight tournaments dating back to the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics. Never blessed with a deep roster, the Slovaks missed injured Columbus Blue Jackets forward Marian Gaborik, and scored five goals in the four contests.

"That's the million dollar question, it's tough to say," Slovakia captain Zdeno Chara said when asked what went wrong. "We had a rough game the first game against the U.S. That game kind of put us really down mentally, our confidence was not there. But we bounced back against Russia and played our strongest game of this tournament. We thought we would follow up on that game [Tuesday] night and obviously we didn't. It's a big disappointment and we'll have to look back and figure out what went wrong."

The Czechs were the aggressors at the start and dominated much of the first period. A pair of goals 29 seconds apart put them in control. Ales Hemsky snapped home a shot from the slot at 6:53 for his first goal of the tournament. The Edmonton Oilers forward began these Olympics as the extra man up front for the Czechs, but he's become a fixture on the second line in short order. Plekanec banged a shot off the post seconds later, and Cervenka was there to put in the rebound at 7:22. Cervenka had nine goals and 17 points last season for the Calgary Flames before returning to the Kontinental Hockey League. David Krejci added a second power-play goal for the Czechs to forge a three-goal lead. Ex-NHL defenseman Tomas Kaberle, who had two assists, sent a pass to Krejci for a one-timer from the left circle, and the Boston Bruins center ripped it into the top-left corner at 17:03. Slovakia played better at the onset of the second period, but was unable to cut into the lead. Cervenka added his second goal of the game at 15:41 of the second. He stripped the puck from an unsuspecting Andrej Sekera near the Slovak blue line and patiently waited out goaltender Jan Laco before flicking a backhanded shot from a tight angle just inside the post. Laco, a backup to ex-NHL goaltender Michael Leighton in the KHL, had 36 saves in a 1-0 shootout loss to Russia in the last group game and was given the start ahead of St. Louis Blues netminder Jaroslav Halak, but he was unable to conjure similar magic two days later. Marian Hossa did get the lead back down to three goals at 18:57 of the second. His Chicago Blackhawks teammate, Michal Handzus, carried the puck behind the net before backhanding a pass to Hossa. It was Hossa's first goal of the tournament, and he added his second at 7:20 of the third to make it 4-2. Winnipeg Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec stopped Tomas Tatar's whirling backhanded shot from the left wing, but Hossa hammered the rebound past him. Slovakia kept the pressure on, and it became a one-goal game 91 seconds later. Forward Tomas Surovy scored on a one-timer in transition from the high slot and Czech Republic coach Alois Hadamczik called timeout to regroup.

"We just stopped playing," Pavelec said. "We didn't play smart at all and gave them too many chances and too much space. At the end of the game we were lucky they didn't tie the game. … Good game for fans, fun to watch, not fun for us."

New Jersey Devils forward Patrik Elias did not play for the second straight game because of illness, and Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Michal Rozsival confirmed Elias is not alone on the team in dealing with the bug.

"There's a couple of guys who weren't feeling really good," Rozsival said. "Obviously Patrik Elias went down hard. A couple of other guys didn't feel well. But it's the Olympics, so everybody's trying to do their best to battle through it. Nothing really serious."

The Czech Republic is now 4-0-0 against Slovakia in the Olympics, and 13-3-1 including games in the IIHF World Championships. The Slovaks did win the last meeting in the 2012 IIHF World Championship, but will be left to wonder where the future of the national team is headed with its top stars on the back half of their NHL careers. For the Czechs, their future is back in this building in less than 24 hours to face a United States team that waxed Slovakia 7-1 and has scored 14 times in three games.

"I'm not putting myself down, but if we played best-of-seven I don't like my chances," Krejci said. "But best-of-one? We're going to try to score the first goal and leave everything out there because we don't have to save ourselves for anything. Just go out there, play the game and we'll see what happens."

Austria v Slovenia 0-4 - Slovenia's "Mission: Impossible" has yet to fully run its course at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Slovenia, appearing in its first Olympics, booked passage to the quarterfinal stage of the men's hockey tournament with an impressive 4-0 win against Austria on Tuesday at Bolshoy Ice Dome in the playoff qualification stage. Coach Matjaz Kopitar called his team's progression to this point in the tournament something hard to imagine. "In the beginning of the tournament it was said that it would be mission impossible for these two teams to be playing to go to the quarterfinals," he said. "For both countries this was kind of a big game because it was historical first time."

But it was the Slovenians who got the desired result, earning a date with top-ranked Sweden in the quarterfinals Wednesday.

"It is, for sure, the biggest thing we have ever done in the history of Slovenian hockey," said forward Ziga Jeglic, who assisted on the opening goal by Anze Kopitar.

If somebody would have told me we were going to reach the quarterfinals, I would have hoped obviously but I wouldn't really believe it," Kopitar said. "But with the game that we have showed so far, I think we deserve it. I'm speechless," said goaltender Robert Kristan, who stopped all 30 shots he faced.

None of the Slovenian players could put into words what the win means for the tiny country, which is just starting to forge its hockey identity on the world stage. Slovenia is a country of fewer than 2 million people. According to the International Ice Hockey Federation, the country has 148 registered senior male players, seven ice rinks, one fully professional team and is No. 17 in the IIHF rankings. Matjaz Kopitar, the father of Anze and one of the leaders in the Slovenian hockey movement, tried to put the historic accomplishment into practical terms.

"I wish with this win we can get like five more ice rinks, because today the shoulders are going to be under pressure," he said, referencing all the congratulatory messages that will pour in for his team. "I want to see more ice rinks, I want to see more organizations going on in right way to handle the kids. This is the message to the people who are [responsible] for this kind of stuff."

The ripple effects of the qualification playoff victory have yet to be felt, but the accomplishment could not be denied.

"We believed we could take some points, but nobody was believing enough to say loud that we are going to play in the quarterfinal," Kristan said. "This is the moment. This is unbelievable; this is the best thing that could happen for most of the players in the locker room, except Anze Kopitar."

Slovenia arrived at this moment because it played the team game that had made it so competitive in the preliminary round. The Slovenians attacked aggressively, scored opportunistic goals, defended intelligently, excelled on special teams and received clutch goaltending from Kristen.

"Our goalie stopped all these pucks and then the game went the way we want," Matjaz Kopitar said.

After Anze Kopitar scored a seeing-eye goal through the legs of Mathias Lange on the power play 5:29 into the game, the Austrians pressed for the equalizer. Their best chance came on a first-period power play when a cross-ice pass found its way onto the stick of Michael Grabner, who leads the tournament with five goals. The forward, who plays for the New York Islanders, had a wide-open net at which to shoot, and then he didn't. Kristan exploded across the crease and somehow got his glove on the puck, knocking it out of harm's way. Not long after Jan Urbas scored a shorthanded goal and the Slovenians took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission and was well on their way to a date with history.

"That was probably the key save if we are looking back right now," Kristan said. "It was empty net, amazing save there. Maybe it would be a different game."

Austria never could find its offensive groove and Slovenia added a missile of a goal from defender Sabahudin Kovacevic and an empty-net goal from Jan Mursak to put the game firmly out of reach.

"We didn't have full game," said Grabner, who finished with five goals in four games. "We had times where we played pretty good and times where they just controlled the game. Obviously when you score no goals it is pretty tough to win a game."

For the Slovenians, they not only won the game but they earned the right to try to shock the world yet again.

"We would have been happy with one point before the end of the tournament," Kovacevic said, "but right now we're going for the gold medal."

Sochi 2014: Womens Results Semi Finals

USA v Sweden 6-1 - In 2010, the United States thrashed Sweden 9-1 en route to earning a silver medal. Four years later, the chasm between the two countries' women's hockey programs remains. Megan Bozek and Brianna Decker each scored three points (a goal and two assists apiece), and 10 Americans scored at least one point as the United States advanced to the gold-medal round with a 6-1 blowout victory over Sweden on Monday. The United States will face rivals Canada, who beat Switzerland 3-1 in its semifinal matchup. The Americans will have a chance to not only atone for its 2010 gold-medal defeat but also its collapse earlier in Sochi. Interestingly placed in the same group, Canada and the United States faced off last Wednesday in a possible gold-medal preview. The U.S. held a 1-0 lead through the first two periods but watched as Canada scored three goals in the third to earn a 3-2 victory. It was an uncharacteristically poor defensive performance from the United States and should lead to a motivated squad heading into Wednesday.

Hilary Knight said: We didn’t play Team USA-style hockey. That was evident in the film that we watched and it was painful at times. You’re watching yourself and thinking, "Oh, my gosh, I can’t believe I did that." It was so uncharacteristic of what we’ve been working towards the last few months. It was a reminder of what we did and where we need to be and what we need to do.

Coming out with an aggressive, attacking style from the opening puck drop, it did not take long for the United States to control the pace. Alex Carpenter netted the game's first goal on a power play at the 6:10 mark of the first period, and Kacey Bellamy added another a minute later. By the end of the first period, the U.S. had a commanding 3-0 lead, and Bozek and Decker had two assists apiece. It ultimately wouldn't have affected the result, but Sweden might have come closer if it had done a better job of avoiding penalties. The Swedes earned three penalties in a four-minute span, leaving the already undermanned roster to scramble throughout. The United States out-shot Sweden 29-1 in the first, as the underdogs could barely even hold on to the puck long enough to form a cogent attack. Rules forced the teams to play all three periods, however, and it was soon apparent Arthur's sentiment would play out. A Pernilla Winberg interference penalty led to a Monique Lamoureux power-play goal at 5:41 in the second period, assisted by her twin sister Jocelyne Lamoureux. Bozek netted a full-strength goal to make it 5-0 at 12:17, leading to Sweden pulling goaltender Valentina Lizana Wallner. While she let five shots go into net, the semifinal was ultimately an admirable performance from the Swedish goaltender. Wallner faced 47 shots in less than two full periods, consistently diving and sprawling and watching her defenders get into poor position. By the time Kim Martin Hasson replaced Wallner, it was obvious the United States' pace and aggression left the Swedes exhausted.

The Americans played out the rest of the second scoreless, ultimately taking their foot off the pedal heading into the intermission. With a five-goal lead and Sweden unable to match up athletically, it was merely about playing out the final 20 minutes. Whether it was due to a lack of intensity from the United States or Swedish pride, the third period was far and away the most competitive. Sweden came out on the attack in the opening moments for a rare goal-scoring opportunity and tightened up its defense, with the Americans swinging the puck around the blue line more than they had the first two periods. With time draining down, the Swedes got their first triumph of the game. Amid a scrum near the net, Anna Borgqvist sent through their first goal to make it 5-1. Emma Eliasson and Pernilla Winberg received points for their assists. The good times kept rolling a little later in the period when Jocelyne Lamoureux earned a penalty shot. Lamoureux swept around with a beautiful, twisting backhand shot attempt, but Martin Hasson stayed at home and stuck her leg out for the unlikely save. After taking over for Wallner, she performed admirably to stop 22 of the 23 shots that went her way. The only one that went into the Swedish net wasn't even her fault. Decker drilled a one-time shot past Martin Hasson that went ricocheting off the post, but Sweden's Emilia Andersson accidentally knocked it into the goal at the 16:58 mark to finalize the score. Overall, the United States will look to take more away from the first two periods than the last. This was a wholly expected and assumed domination, but the third period highlights this team's propensity to take its foot off the gas. Against an overmatched team like Sweden, that mind set can work. If the third-period intensity shows up against Canada (or Switzerland), though, the U.S. will walk away disappointed with silver for the second straight Olympics.

Canada v Switzerland 3-1 - In an exciting semifinals women’s ice hockey matchup at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Team Canada defeated Team Switzerland by a score of 3-1 on Monday at the Shayba Arena. The Canadians earned a place in the gold-medal game against Team USA after the Americans were able to defeat Team Sweden, 6-1, earlier in the day. The gold-medal battle between Team Canada and Team USA is the ideal culmination of the women’s ice hockey tournament and the matchup many fans always wanted to see. The first period started fast for Team Canada, racking up three goals in the first 11:33 of the contest. Forward Natalie Spooner added the first two goals for her team and Melodie Daoust added the third goal. The Canadians amassed 16 shots in the first period as opposed to Switzerland’s six total shots, and the team continued that dominance in the second period with 22 shots compared to the Swiss’ seven. The main difference in the second period was Switzerland’s goaltender Florence Schelling. Despite the team being utterly dismantled in the offensive and defensive ends at times, the veteran netminder racked up saves at key moments. Swiss star Jessica Lutz also added a goal to make the score 3-1 and keep the third period interesting. Following the same vein as the second period, the third was a hard-fought defensive battle that was highlighted by the elite play of Schelling. Canada went on to outshoot the Swiss 48-22 during this matchup.

Canadian forward Gillian Apps said: In the semifinals of an Olympic tournament, you never want to underestimate your opponent. For us, it's just really important to try and put together a full 60 minutes. I don't think we've done that yet in the tournament. That's a huge thing for us and if we can do that tonight, I think we'll be feeling a bit better about going into the final if we win.

Now that Team Canada has secured its place in the gold-medal game on Thursday at Noon ET against the United States, the anticipation over the rematch from group play will have the hockey world buzzing. Everyone wants to see if Team USA will avenge its loss or if Canada can yet again take home women’s gold. The Americans lost 3-2 to the Canadians in the preliminary stage and will be looking for a win in an even more important matchup. It will be the ultimate battle of the two best teams in the tournament. As for Switzerland, the team will go on to play Sweden in the bronze-medal matchup on Thursday at 7 a.m. ET. Both teams lost in the semifinals, but each possesses the raw talent and depth to make this an ideal third-place battle. With the perfect gold-medal matchup between Team USA and Team Canada and an intriguing bronze-medal matchup between the Swiss and Sweden, the women’s tournament is living up to the expectations and hype many fans put upon it prior to the start of the Winter Games.

Sochi 2014: Womens Results Classification Games

7th Place: Germany v Japan 3-2 - Susann Gotz had a goal and an assist to lead Germany to a 3-2 victory over Japan on Tuesday in the Olympic women's hockey seventh-place game. Viona Harrer made 27 saves for German, which beat last-place Japan for the second time in the Sochi Games. Nana Fujimoto made 11 saves for Japan on 14 shots before she was replaced in the second period by Akane Konishi. Haruna Yoneyama and Hanae Kubo scored for Japan, which has never won a game in its Olympic history. This was the first time the Japanese had quailed for the Olympic women's hockey tournament. They also received an automatic berth into the 1998 Nagano Games as the host nation.

5th Place: Finland v Russia 4-0 - Noora Raty stopped 18 shots in her Olympic finale and Michelle Karvinen scored twice to lead Finland to a 4-0 victory over Russia on Tuesday in the women's hockey fifth-place game. Raty started with the Finnish national team when she was 15 and won two NCAA championships at Minnesota. She has said she will retire from the national team after the Sochi Games. Anna Prugova made 21 saves for Russia. The hosts had hoped the home-ice advantage would propel them to a spot in the medal round. But after finishing atop Group B, they lost to Switzerland in the quarterfinals. Linda Valimaki and Rikka Valila scored 51 seconds apart to break a scoreless tie late in the first period. Karvinen's goals came 61 seconds apart in the third.