gusman
02-25-2010, 09:06 AM
By Jamie Bell, CTVOlympics.ca
There will be a new Olympic champion this year as Slovakia have booked a semifinal date with Canada after beating Sweden 4-3 on Wednesday night.
The win secures Slovakia's highest ever finish at the Olympic Games.
The loss likely marks the end of Peter Forsberg's illustrious international career. ‘Foppa' twice helped the ‘Tre Kronor' capture gold at the Olympics, but he was just a bit player in Sweden's disappointing exit.
Pavol Demitra, who plays professionally in Vancouver with the Canucks had a goal and two assists and Jaroslav Halak made 26 saves in the victory.
After a scoreless first period the Slovaks finally broke the deadlock in the second frame as Marian Hossa found Marian Gaborik with a great cross-ice feed. Gaborik's one-timer eluded Henrik Lundqvist to open the scoring.
The reigning gold medallists were rattled as just 37 seconds later Slovakia broke in two-on-one with Richard Zednik setting up Andrej Sekeres to increase the Slovak lead to two.
But the champs were not ready to go down easy. After being criticized for going pointless thus far in the tournament, Forsberg made a beautiful behind the back pass to Patric Hornqvist who lofted a backhand over Halak to pull the Swedes within one.
In an odd coincidence the ‘Tre Kronor' tied this one up 37 seconds later as Henrik Zetterberg's centering attempt banked off of Milan Jurcina past Halak for the equalizer.
It appeared as though the teams were going to head to the dressing room tied; however the Slovaks restored their advantage when Demitra's shot eluded a screened Lundqvist to send Slovakia to the dressing room with a one goal lead with 20 minutes remaining.
Not prepared to go down without a fight, the Swedes threw everything they had at the Slovaks net, but Halak held his ground to deny them.
Slovakia were sacrificing their bodies to make plays as Martin Strbak had to limp off the ice after blocking a Daniel Sedin blast.
Playing on raw emotion the Slovaks continued to press and were eventually rewarded. Demitra turned on the jets to start an odd-man rush, he found Hossa with the cross-ice pass. Hossa was stopped but Tomas Kopecky was there to clean up the garbage and increase Slovakia's lead to two.
The two goal advantage was shortlived as Halak misplayed a puck behind his net directly on to the stick of Loui Ericksson. Ericksson found Nicklas Backstrom who hit a streaking Daniel Alfresson who buried it as the Swedes were back within one.
Sweden continued to attack as the Sedin brothers buzzed around Halak's net looking for an equalizer, however it was not to be. Despite a furious flourish to end the game, Sweden was unable to find the back of the net as the Slovak bench exploded in joy once the final buzzer sounded.
Slovakia will now face Canada in Friday's semifinal with a medal at stake.
There will be a new Olympic champion this year as Slovakia have booked a semifinal date with Canada after beating Sweden 4-3 on Wednesday night.
The win secures Slovakia's highest ever finish at the Olympic Games.
The loss likely marks the end of Peter Forsberg's illustrious international career. ‘Foppa' twice helped the ‘Tre Kronor' capture gold at the Olympics, but he was just a bit player in Sweden's disappointing exit.
Pavol Demitra, who plays professionally in Vancouver with the Canucks had a goal and two assists and Jaroslav Halak made 26 saves in the victory.
After a scoreless first period the Slovaks finally broke the deadlock in the second frame as Marian Hossa found Marian Gaborik with a great cross-ice feed. Gaborik's one-timer eluded Henrik Lundqvist to open the scoring.
The reigning gold medallists were rattled as just 37 seconds later Slovakia broke in two-on-one with Richard Zednik setting up Andrej Sekeres to increase the Slovak lead to two.
But the champs were not ready to go down easy. After being criticized for going pointless thus far in the tournament, Forsberg made a beautiful behind the back pass to Patric Hornqvist who lofted a backhand over Halak to pull the Swedes within one.
In an odd coincidence the ‘Tre Kronor' tied this one up 37 seconds later as Henrik Zetterberg's centering attempt banked off of Milan Jurcina past Halak for the equalizer.
It appeared as though the teams were going to head to the dressing room tied; however the Slovaks restored their advantage when Demitra's shot eluded a screened Lundqvist to send Slovakia to the dressing room with a one goal lead with 20 minutes remaining.
Not prepared to go down without a fight, the Swedes threw everything they had at the Slovaks net, but Halak held his ground to deny them.
Slovakia were sacrificing their bodies to make plays as Martin Strbak had to limp off the ice after blocking a Daniel Sedin blast.
Playing on raw emotion the Slovaks continued to press and were eventually rewarded. Demitra turned on the jets to start an odd-man rush, he found Hossa with the cross-ice pass. Hossa was stopped but Tomas Kopecky was there to clean up the garbage and increase Slovakia's lead to two.
The two goal advantage was shortlived as Halak misplayed a puck behind his net directly on to the stick of Loui Ericksson. Ericksson found Nicklas Backstrom who hit a streaking Daniel Alfresson who buried it as the Swedes were back within one.
Sweden continued to attack as the Sedin brothers buzzed around Halak's net looking for an equalizer, however it was not to be. Despite a furious flourish to end the game, Sweden was unable to find the back of the net as the Slovak bench exploded in joy once the final buzzer sounded.
Slovakia will now face Canada in Friday's semifinal with a medal at stake.