Bronze Medal Ice Hockey Game: Finland vs. Slovakia
 Finland |
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 Slovakia |
The bronze medal will be handed out in the men’s hockey tournament at the Vancouver Olympic Games on Saturday night to the winner of the Finland/Slovakia match. Both of these teams suffered heartbreaking losses on Friday. Finland fell behind 6-0 in the first period to the United States and never got back in the saddle, losing 6-1. Slovakia showed a lot of heart, coming back from a 3-0 third period deficit to the Canadians to make the score 3-2, but it never got over the hump and was able to score the tying goal.
G Miikka Kiprusoff had one of the worst games of his entire career against the US on Friday. He conceded four goals amongst the first seven shots that he faced before getting pulled in favor of Niklas Backstrom, who only stopped 16 of the 18 shots that he saw. Kiprusoff now only has a .902 save percentage for the tournament after coming into the semifinals as arguably the hottest goalie in the world. Now, there’s a question whether it was will be him or Backstrom in net on Saturday night with the bronze medals on the line. F Antti Miettinen was the only Finnish player to find the back of the net against the Americans. It was his first goal of the tournament. F Nikas Hagman still leads the squad with three goals and five points.
Don’t blame G Jaroslav Halak for any problems that the Slovaks have had in this tournament. Only Switzerland’s Jonas Hiller has faced more shots on net than the Slovakian net minder. Halak has stopped 145 of his 158 tests in these Olympic Games (.918 save percentage), and his only losses came to the Czech Republic and Canada. F Michal Handzus tallied in the third period for the Slovaks, giving him a team-high three goals for the tournament. Fs Marian Hossa and Pavol Demitra lead the team with seven points apiece.
The Slovakians are slight underdogs in this game, and for good reason. Team Finland probably has a significantly more talented squad that has simply underachieved for the duration of this tournament. Look for the Finns to come out inspired after getting embarrassed on Friday, which should lead to the blue and white hoisting the bronze medals when the evening is over.
Selection: Finland
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