Olympic Men’s Hockey Tournament – Page 4

Not every clash of the titans delivers an epic. This Olympic quarter-final battle between Sweden and Canada was more of an arm wrestle than an exhibition.

Not that the Swedes will care after a 2-0 verdict booked a place in the medal round at the 2022 Olympic men’s tournament. That represents a return to form for the Tre Kronor, who bowed out in the 2018 QF against Germany.

It took more than 50 minutes of often grinding hockey to break the deadlock at the National Indoor Stadium. And when Lucas Wallmark did put Sweden in front, it was in keeping with the preceding action that the goal stemmed from a defensive error.

Canada got caught out trying to clear its zone, with Jack McBain’s blind pass going badly astray. Wallmark stole the puck and evaded the attentions of Tyler Wotherspoon as the defenceman tried to retrieve the situation. But Sweden’s CSKA Moscow forward was not to be denied, firing inside Matt Tomkins’ post to open the scoring.

That strike moves Wallmark to five goals, tied with Slovakia’s Juraj Slafkovsky, as the leading sniper at the Games. More importantly, it steered Sweden past Canada into a semi-final match-up with team ROC.

The cagey play that typified this encounter was perhaps not a surprise. These teams know each other very well. Two of the Canadian players, leading scorer Adam Tambellini and goalie Matt Tomkins, currently play in the Swedish League at Rogle and Frolunda respectively. Many more are in regular contact in other European leagues. That familiarity undoubted contributed to the tight battle that unfolded.

Historically, too, these teams often deliver tight games. Their last encounter, in the 2017 World Championship, had little to choose between them.

On that occasion, the Tre Kronor won it in a shoot-out after a 1-1 tie; the two goals were separated by barely two minutes of game time either side of the second intermission. Nicklas Backstrom settled that one in the extras to wrest the title away from Canada.

The teams’ most recent Olympic meeting was also a gold-medal game: in 2014, Canada beat Sweden 3-0 in Sochi on goals from Jonathan Toews, Sid Crosby and Chris Kunitz.

However, there was little golden about a stodgy first period. Sweden had slightly more shots on goal, but there was little to trouble Tomkins or his opposite number Lars Johansson. Canada’s best opportunity came midway through the opening stanza when McBain whipped the puck into the danger zone by Eric Staal was unable to force it home.

At the other end, Sweden’s best chance came on a Canadian power play. A breakaway presented Jacob de la Rose with a chance, but he failed to extend Tomkins.

The pattern did not change significantly in the second period. In the first 10 minutes of the frame, the teams shared just five shots on goal between them and the most anxious moment came when Mathias Brome batted down a bouncing puck and caused Tomkins momentary discomfort before the Canadian goalie got on top of it.

Brome was involved again to carve out the clearest chance of the game when his pass picked out Anton Lander in space at the far post. The Swedish captain, currently playing for EV Zug in Switzerland, got a shot off by was denied by Tomkins’ blocker.

At the other end, Canada had the puck in the net late in the second stanza. However, Jason Demers’ point shot came after a whistle for interference by Jordan Weal as the Ak Bars Kazan forward wrestled Lukas Bengtsson’s stick out of his hands while jockeying for position on the slot.

The third period brought few further chances: it took Canada almost 10 minutes of the frame to muster a shot on target. Even after the Swedes got in front, the Canadians struggled to test Johansson. The SKA St. Petersburg goalie was well protected by his defence, with Sweden enjoying the better of life on the face-off spot and making it hard for Canada to get players to the net for long periods.

And when Tomkins was called to the bench, a breakdown saw Lander put his second goal into the empty net to seal Sweden’s progress. Johansson finished with 24 saves to claim his shut-out.

Source: iihf.com

Clinical finishing and traditional resilience saw Finland advance to the semi-finals with a 5-1 victory over Switzerland. Three goals from 12 shots saw Jukka Jalonen’s men into a 3-0 lead early in the second period and that proved sufficient to sink Switzerland and set up a meeting with Slovakia in the final four.

Finland went with the same skaters that defeated Sweden in an overtime thriller in the final game in Group C, with Jalonen bringing back goaltender Harri Sateri in place of Jussi Olkinuora. Switzerland, who played yesterday in the qualification round against Czechia, started with Reto Berra in goal today and returned forward Dario Simion to the team in place of Joel Vermin.

After an even opening, the Finns assumed control with a pair of quick goals midway through the first period. Miro Aaltonen, one of many KHL-based players on this team, got the first when he gobbled up the rebound after Berra padded away Niklas Friman’s shot. Two minutes later, blue liner Mikko Lehtonen’s point shot bounced off a Swiss D-man and looped over Berra’s head. That doubled the lead and gave Switzerland a big headache.

Down 0-2 to a Finnish team renowned for its defensive discipline is always a tough place to be. And Switzerland’s problems were exacerbated by a misfiring offence. Throughout the tournament, goals have been a problem for the Swiss, who managed just three markers in three group stage games. Today, despite 34 shots at Sateri, there was only one more goal to celebrate.

Things didn’t get any better for Patrick Fischer’s team at the start of the second period, when Hannes Bjorninen’s interception in centre ice left Michael Fora trying to defend a two-on-one break. Bjorninen had the perfect feed for Marko Anttila to shoot home number three.

That was the end of Berra’s game, with the Swiss bench eager to shake up a game that was rapidly getting out of reach. Leonardo Genoni took over, and immediately found himself busy. Finland generated a flurry of chances with Leo Komarov causing trouble on the doorstep and Aaltonen flashing in a dangerous shot in the second phase of play.

Once in front, the Finns tend to cling, limpet-like, to their advantage and the second period of this game was no different. As always, Jalonen’s team was drilled and disciplined, squeezing the life out of Switzerland’s offence and offering few clear scoring opportunities.

However, when Lehtonen shot the puck over the plexi for a cheap delaying the game penalty late in the middle frame, he offered the Swiss a chance. It was a lifeline eagerly grasped, with veteran Andres Ambuhl pulling a goal back off Enzo Corvi’s feed to give his country hope going into the third period.

Ambuhl’s second goal in two days gave Switzerland hope and Fischer’s team made a fast start in the third period. In the opening minute of play, Gregory Hofmann was buzzing around in front of Sateri’s net, asking a couple of questions of the Finnish goalie. And the Sibir Novosibirsk netminder was beaten soon afterwards, but Denis Malgin’s shot dinged off the piping and bounced safely back into play.

The momentum was building in Switzerland’s favour, but 49th-minute tripping call on Denis Hollenstein allowed Finland to regroup and take some of the sting out of the game.

As the action entered its closing stages, Switzerland then had a power play chance of its own. That proved decisive – but not in the manner Fischer & Co had hoped. Genoni went to the bench to produce a 6-on-4 advantage, but the two extra men could not fashion a good opening and when Harri Pesonen returned to the ice, he helped to set up Iiro Pakarinen for an empty net goal that killed Switzerland’s chances.

Adding insult to injury, Teemu Hartikainen added a second empty-netter on 56:47 to put a favourable gloss on the final scoreline.

“We had four losses and one win overall, so we’re not happy at all,” concluded Ambuhl.

Anttila, by contrast, is looking forward to the next stage. “Of course we are confident,” he said. “We try to improve all the time and if you want to win something in this type of tournament, you need good defence. They’re always tight games and it’s hard to score goals, so you have to be good in your own zone.”

Source: iihf.com