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Tre Kronor Heads to Gold Medal Game |
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Strong special teams play propelled Tre Kronor to the gold medal game at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi as Sweden downed arch-rival Finland by a 2-1 score in the semifinals. After trailing 1-0 in the second period on a goal by Olli Jokinen, the Swedes forged ahead with tallies by Loui Eriksson and Erik Karlsson (power play) to establish a lead they'd never relinquish.
Although Sweden-Finland is a major rivalry, many of the games the national teams play against one another on the big ice are similar to the one played today: low-scoring affairs with a modest number of overall scoring chances. The games often seem subdued in terms of outward emotion but there is a lot of subtle gamesmanship.
Tre Kronor did themselves no favors over the first 30 minutes of the game. They had their share of discipline lapses, taking four the game's first five penalties. That included a lengthy 5-on-3 penalty kill in the latter half of the first period. Strong penalty killing work and several missed chances by the Finns kept the game scoreless. The failure to capitalize on the 5-on-3 in particular would come back to haunt the Lions.
Henrik Lundqvist turned back 25 of 26 shots for the Swedes. The one goal he gave up was a stoppable one. On a play that was nearly an icing but washed out the neutral zone, Olli Jokinen beat Lundqvist from a sharp angle to the short side. Sami Vatanen received the lone assist.
Referee Tim Peel initially ruled no-goal as he lost sight of the puck. The on-ice call was reversed upon video replay. Under IIHF rules, the puck crossing the line before the whistle and not the referee's decision on when to blow play dead is the determining factor.
With the Swedes trailing 1-0, Daniel Alfredsson took a retaliatory cross-checking penalty. Again, the penalty killers bailed out the team, with Niklas Hjalmarsson and Niklas Kronwall stepping to the forefront.
As the game passed the midway point, Tre Kronor drew even. A turnover by Pittsburgh Penguins rookie Olli Määttä was worked into a point-blank chance for Eriksson, who beat former Dallas Stars teammate Kari Lehtonen (23 saves on 25 shots) from close range to tie the game at the 11:39 mark. Jimmie Ericsson and Nicklas Bäckström earned the assists.
At 14:39, Olli Jokinen was penalized for tripping. Late in the ensuing Swedish power play, former Norris Trophy winner Karlsson hammered a center point shot that beat Lehtonen under his right arm. Alexander Steen and Daniel Sedin got the assists.
The Dallas netminder got a piece of the puck but not enough. With no traffic in his line of sight, that was one that Lehtonen would like to have back -- just as Lundqvist would've liked another crack at the Jokinen goal.
Tre Kronor did a masterful job at suffocating the Finns in the third period. Lehtonen had a make a tough early sliding save (losing his stick in the process) to keep the Lions within a goal, but the Swedes made it irrelevant. The Finns got outshot by an 8-3 margin in the final period, even as Sweden had to kill one final penalty.
The Swedes, who won the gold medal at the 2006 Olympics and are also the defending IIHF World Championship gold medalist, will await the winner of today's Canada-USA game for Sunday's gold medal showdown. The Finns will play the losing side tomorrow for bronze.
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