Eurolanche

Stastny with USA were stopped

Jesse Joensuu scored his second goal of the night with nine seconds remaining in the game as Finland beat Team USA 3-2 to advance to the semi-final against Russia on Saturday afternoon (14:30).

Slovakia will play the winner of Sweden vs. Czech Republic in the late semi-final on Saturday at 18:30.

Petri Vehanen made 24 saves for Finland.

While Team USA outshot Finland in the first period, the hosts weren’t without their chances. Mikko Koivu’s shot on an open American net was blocked by Petry, and Jussi Jokinen’s deflection only barely missed the net. But missed it nonetheless.

Scott Gordon pulled goaltender Jimmy Howard with 1.2 seconds remaining in the period, and the faceoff in Finland’s zone. The U.S. won the faceoff their shot went wide, and the period was scoreless.

The second period was very entertaining, and the game was 27:35 minutes old when the first penalty was called. Max Pacioretty pulled down a Finnish forward in front of the U.S. net, and Finland got its first power-play opportunity, but the Americans killed off the penalty.

Maybe the high tempo of the game got the best of the teams, but the second period was more open than the first. Both teams had a few turnovers that led to scoring chances but both Howard and Vehanen turned away everything that was thrown at them. 

Almost. 

At 13:37 into the second period, Jesse Joensuu fired a wrist shot from the top of the right faceoff circle and beat Howard on his stick side, giving Finland a 1-0 lead in the game, a step closer to the semi-final against Russia.

But the U.S. fired right back. The announcer was still reading the names Antti Pihlström and Lasse Kukkonen, who picked up assists to the Finnish goal when the puck was in the Finnish net. Joey Crabb and Jeff Petry cycled the puck on the right side of the Finnish zone, Petry fired a hard pass to the net, straight to Kyle Palmieri’s stick and he had an easy task to tap it in to tie the game, 1-1, just 21 seconds after the Finnish goal.

Finland started the third period strong, with their top line cycling the puck, pushing Team USA on their heels. 

In the next shift, Justin Faulk snapped the puck towards the Finnish net, Vehanen made a pad save but Bobby Ryan grabbed the rebound and fired it through Vehanen’s five-hole to give the Americans the lead in the game, just 1:39 into the third period. It was Ryan’s fifth goal and Faulk’s eighth point in the tournament.

With 6:58 remaining in the period, Valtteri Filppula sent the puck to the net, and it got deflected off Mikko Koivu's skate into the net to tie the game. Jack Johnson has lost his stick a moment earlier, and couldn't defend like he wanted.

Finland pushed the Americans even more, with the home crowd cheering them on. And with 8.8 seconds remaining in the game, the roof of the arena blew off when Jesse Joensuu scored his second of the night off a nice feed from Petri Kontiola from behind the net, to win the game for Finland, 3-2. 

The tournament continues for Finland with a semi-final rematch against Russia on Saturday.

-by Risto Pakarinen for IIHF.com-