Tuesday November 26, 2024

ROC into men's ice hockey final via shootout at Beijing 2022

Published : 18 Feb 2022, 22:45

DF News Desk

Players of the ROC celebrate after victory against Sweden in the semifinals of men's ice hockey event of Beijing 2022 at National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 18, 2022. Photo: Xinhua.

Defending champions the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) nailed a thrilling 2-1 shootout victory over Sweden to reach the men's ice hockey final at Beijing 2022 here on Friday, reported Xinhua.

The ROC reached the semifinals with a 3-1 win over debutants Denmark, while seventh-seeded Sweden advanced with an impressive 2-0 win over world No. 1 Canada in Wednesday's quarterfinals.

Anton Slepyshev from the ROC broke the deadlock with a memorable solo goal at 20:15, the very beginning of the second period.

The ROC's lead was maintained during the period, with a lot of pushing and shoving between the two teams.

Both teams showed their ability to clamp down defensively at the third period. Sweden's captain Anton Lander scored an equalizer at 46:22, before the match was evenly played with some threatening shots from both sides in the final minutes but without any goal scored. The overtime also went in a thrilling but goalless fashion.

During the shootout, the ROC's Arseni Gritsyuk scored a winning goal to end the tightly contested match.

The gold medal game between Finland and the ROC will be held on Sunday.