Finland rallies past Slovakia for hockey bronze
Reporting from Vancouver, Canada — Finland rallied from a two-goal third-period deficit to beat Slovakia 5-3 at Canada Hockey Place to win the bronze and deny Slovakia its first Olympic medal in any team sport. The fourth-place finish is Slovakia’s best Olympic result.
“It’s just a tough pill to swallow,†Marian Hossa said, “because I thought we had an unbelievable tournament, and we should be proud of ourselves, but the result is not what we wanted.â€
Olli Jokinen scored two goals for Finland, while Slovakia fell despite a goal and assist from Hossa.
The Finns took the lead late in the first period on Sami Salo’s power-play goal. The defenseman blasted a shot from the top of the right circle that sailed over goaltender Jaroslav Halak’s glove and into the net.
Slovakia, which rallied with two third-period goals against Canada on Friday but couldn’t find the equalizer in a frenzied final minute, looked like a fatigued team in the first. It mustered only five shots against Finnish goalie Miikka Kiprusoff.
“I don’t know what happened in the first; I think we were watching too much,†Hossa said.
Slovakia seemed to find its bearings midway through the second and tied it 1-1 when Marian Gaborik tallied a power-play goal after working his way into open ice. He took a pass from Pavol Demitra and scored from the slot.
Later in the second, Hossa scored when he stopped a loose puck with his skate and tapped it into the net from the right post.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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