The Men’s Quarterfinals are complete and what a tournament this has turned out to be!

The early game ended with Sweden blowing out Slovenia 5-0. Henrik Lundqvist only faced 19 shots and stopped all of them for the shutout. Sweden got goals from Carl Hagelin (who scored twice), Loui Eriksson, Daniel Sedin, and Alex Steen.

The highlight of the early games was Finland defeating Russia 3-1. The Olympic hosts are now out of the tournament and the hopes of a nation for a medal have vanished. Tuukka Rask got the start for the Fins and faced an onslaught from a desperate Russian team. Rask stopped 37 of the 38 shots on goal for 0.974 save percentage. Finland chased Semyon Varlamov in the second period and did not have a goal on Sergei Bobrovski for the remainder of the game. Russia moving away from Bobrovski, who has played solid all tournament and had a shutout the day prior, was probably their downfall.

Team USA faced off against the Czech Republic in one of two afternoon games. The US scored early and often in the first, getting three goals and opening the scoring at 1:39 into the game off of a nifty James van Riemsdyk goal. Dustin Brown and David Backes would each score in the first. Ales Hemsky did his best to keep the Czech’s in the game, but his two goals could not keep up with a potent American offense that saw Zach Parise get his first goal of the tournament and Phil Kessel score his 5th (8th point of the tournament). Team USA ended up beating the Czech Republic 5-2.

Across the courtyard was Team Canada taking on the Latvians. This game was a much different situation that saw a scrappy Latvian team, perpetually labeled an underdog, keep pace with the Canadians until the final seven minutes. Patrick Sharp opened up the scoring the first period, but Lauris Darzins equalized it for the Latvians just two minutes later. That tie would carry until near the end of the third period. A slashing penalty with nine minutes left in the game put Canada on the power play and Shea Weber, who has been monster from the blue line, scored and put Canada ahead 2-1 for good. Latvia, who hadn’t won a game in the Group round, battled hard and should go home with their heads held high with the effort they displayed.

The Semifinals are set and Sweden and Finland will face off in the first game Friday (2/21) at 7:00 am. This will be an exciting match-up of elite goaltenders and scoring potential. Canada and Team USA will face each other Friday at 12:00 pm in what many had hoped would be a medal game. But it’s a sure bet the game will bring intensity as the two powerhouses battle for a spot in the Gold Medal game.

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