Olympics men’s hockey: OAR blanks Czech Republic, advances to gold medal game
The Olympic Athletes from Russia advance to the gold medal game in the Olympics men’s hockey tournament with a 3-0 shutout over Czech Republic.
The Olympic Athletes from Russia needed 27 seconds in the second period to advance to the gold medal game in the Olympics men’s hockey tournament.
It was a tight checking, defensive affair for 27 minutes when Pavel Datsyuk was given too much space in the offensive zone. He made the Czech Republic pay by finding Nikita Gusev on a cross ice feed, leading to Gusev firing it past a sprawling Pavel Francouz and into the open net.
Czech Republic challenged for goalie interference, but the call was upheld, putting OAR up 1-0.
Just 27 seconds later, Vladislav Gavrikov finished off a two-on-one dish from Ivan Telegin to make it 2-0.
Czech Republic played a nearly perfect game for just over 27 minutes, but those 27 seconds decided the game.
Ilya Kovalchuk did his best to get the Czech’s back in the game, taking back-to-back penalties following the goals. Martin Ruzicka had two great chances on the power play, shooting at a wide open net, but neither found the back of the net. On the first chance, Ruzicka was so certain he scored that he celebrated as the puck flew over the goal. The second shot was blocked by a OAR defender. The Czech power play went 0-4 in the game.
Kovalchuk would add an empty netter to finish things off.
Vasili Koshechkin made 22 saves in the shutout, although he was not tested significantly. Francouz had 29 saves in defeat. OAR have outscored opponents 21-3 since losing 3-2 to Slovakia in their opening game.
Highlights
Venäjän olympiaurheilijat jo 2-0-johtoon, kun Telegin syöttää ja Gavrikov viimeistelee! #Pyeongchangfi #Olympialaiset pic.twitter.com/4EqF6ASlJ2
— discovery+ sport 🇫🇮 (@dplussportfi) February 23, 2018
Team #OAR will play in gold medal game! #PyeongChang2018 pic.twitter.com/M7haq5f1nV
— KHL (@khl_eng) February 23, 2018
What’s Next
The Olympic Athletes from Russia will play in the gold medal game against the winner of Canada-Germany. That game takes place on Saturday night at 11:10 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, Czech Republic will shoot from bronze against the loser of the aforementioned Canada-Germany contest. Puck drops at 7:10 a.m. ET Saturday morning in that one.
Next: Team USA women’s hockey gave us a second Miracle on Ice
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