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Russia men’s hockey knocked out of Sochi by Finland – Metro US

Russia men’s hockey knocked out of Sochi by Finland

Teemu Selanne Teemu Selanne knocks in a goal for Finland in its win over host Russia.
Credit: Reuters

Russia was eliminated from the men’s ice hockey competition at the Sochi Games on Wednesday following a 3-1 quarterfinal loss to Finland.

The host nation entered the 12-team tournament as one of the favorites but ultimately proved no match for a Finnish team that won the bronze medal at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

Russia’s Ilya Kovalchuk opened the scoring eight minutes into the game on a powerplay when he sent a one-timer from the slot right under the crossbar.

Finland responded 87 seconds later when Juhamatti Aaltonen took a puck along the goal line before sending it under Russian goalie Semyon Varlamov’s left arm.

Selanne scored after a turnover outside the Russian end, he slipped a Mikael Granlund pass between Varlamov’s legs with under three minutes to play in the opening period.

Finland will play Sweden, who defeated Slovenia 4-0 early Wednesday, in one of Friday’s two semifinals. That game will feature two of the NHL’s top goaltenders with the Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist in net for Sweden and the Bruins’ Tuukka Rask starting for Finland.