Faceoff Factor

One could debate whether Sweden should have even won this game, but they did manage the OT victory to send them to the semi-finals for the eighth straight year.

Tied at one with 7:41 left in the third period, Radim Vrbata was tripped while on a breakaway. A penalty shot was called and Vrbata sent a backhanded shot past Lundqvist for the go-ahead goal.

With with 3:38 remaining, the Swedes scored a controversial goal that may have cost the Czechs the game. Wallin backed into the crease and bumped into Hnilicka, who fell down and was helpless as Marcus Nilson’s wrist shot whizzed past him. The play was not reviewed, and the game was sent into a 10-minute OT, where Sweden’s Weinhandl scored while virtually laying on his back.

The final score may indicate a blowout, but the game was much, much closer.

The Canadians did not show up ready to play in this quarter-final match, and the Norwegians tied the game twice in the first half of the game.

The refs decided to make every single call possible, which had both teams parading to the penalty box. With five 5-on-3 power plays in the first two periods alone, and 20 minor penalties called in the game, special teams were crucial.

Canada scored on four of their power plays, while Norway capitalized while on a 5-on-3 advantage.

With the score tied at 2 halfway through the second period, the Canadians found their rhythm and Norway fell apart. They took a three-goal lead into the third period and added three more before the end of the game.

The talk was all about Swiss cheese after this game, as Martin Gerber allowed three goals on his first four shots. Jonas Hiller allowed three more goals on the 26 shots he faced as the Russians took the game 6-0.

Perhaps the worst goal of the tournament was Russia’s third goal. At 6:23 of the first period, Philippe Furrer took the puck deep in the defensive zone and tried to clear it around the boards, but he ended up shooting the puck straight into his own net. The goal was credited to Zaripov.

Afinogenov had two goals in the game, and Semin, Ovechkin, Zaripov, and Fedorov each had one.

Ilya Kovalchuk was handed his second game misconduct of the tournament after a dirty hit on Julien Vauclair, and he will not be able to play in the semi-final against Finland.

Finland played a defensive game and took a 2-0 lead with goals from Ruutu and Niskala.

Everything changed with less than five minutes left in the game. First, Phil Kessel scored with 4:16 left in the period, then Drew Stafford scored the equalizer to send the game into overtime.

Parise and Brown each had great scoring chances in OT, but it was Lepisto who scored the winner almost 4 minutes into the extra frame.

The semi-finals will be a rematch of last year, with Canada taking on Sweden and Russia facing Finland. The RUS-FIN game will be the early game, with CAN-SWE starting at 3:30 PM ET on Friday.