SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Erik Karlsson scored the go-ahead
goal late in the second period and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 25 shots,
lifting Sweden over Finland 2-1 on Friday and into the gold-medal game
at the Sochi Olympics.
The 2006 Olympic champions will face the
United States or Canada on Sunday. The Finns will play the loser of the
second semifinal for bronze on Saturday.
All the scoring came in
the second, beginning with Olli Jokinen’s goal from a sharp angle to the
left of Lundqvist at 6:17 into the period that put Finland ahead 1-0.
Sweden’s
Loui Eriksson tied the game by finishing off a sweet sequence of passes
midway through the period. Karlsson made it 2-1 with a slap shot from
the middle of the ice just inside the blue line with 3:34 remaining.
Kari Lehtonen made 23 saves for the Finns while filling in for Tuukka Rask, who didn’t play because of an
unspecified illness.
Lehtonen
kept his team in the game, but the defensive-minded Finns struggled to
generate many scoring chances. When they did, Lundqvist made the stops
required. It was yet another strong performance from the goaltender who
led the Swedes to gold eight years ago, when they beat Finland in the
finals of the Turin Games.
Sweden coach Par Marts seemed to fire
up — or at least annoy — Finland’s players and coaches by predicting
Russia would advance to play his team in the semifinals. But the Finns
couldn’t turn the bulletin-board material into enough energy to make a
difference against a team that seems to have more talent.
They did, though, get off to a good start.
Jokinen
beat the Swedes to a puck and scored what seemed to be a relatively
soft goal against Lundqvist, shooting past him from just above the goal
line.
The Finns are usually good at keeping leads by clogging the
middle of the ice, forcing teams to the outside of the wider ice surface
used in international play, but they were unable Friday to stop Sweden
in a pair of pivotal moments.
Eriksson scored from the right side
of the net, benefiting from tape-to-tape passes from Jonathan Ericsson
and Nicklas Backstrom after Daniel Sedin forced Olli Maatta into a turn
over.
Less than 5 minutes later, Karlsson didn’t need as much
help. His long blast beat Lehtonen’s blocker for a goal that gives
Sweden a shot to win what might be the last Olympic gold medal with NHL
players in the tournament.
The world’s top professional league and
its players’ union have yet to commit to playing in the Pyeongchang
Games in 2018, and both sides said this past week that decision could be
made within six months.
Sweden improved to 7-2-3 in Olympic
matchups against Finland and can join Canada as the only country to win
two gold medals since NHL players began participating in the Olympics at
the Nagano Games.
The Finns beat Sweden, their Scandinavian
neighbor, in those games and went on to win bronze. They have won three
medals in the NHL era, more than any other nation.
Finland’s
Juhamatti Aaltonen, who scored the tying goal in a win that eliminated
the host Russians in the quarterfinals, went to the dressing room early
in the third period with an ailment that wasn’t announced.
___
Follow Larry Lage on Twitter: http://twitter.com/larrylage
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.