Oh man, oh man. This tournament keeps getting better and better, and I didn't think that was even possible!
Relegation Round
Game 1: Swiss 2 - Japan 1
These girls aren't going to go down without a fight. Both Japan and the Swiss played a heavy game. Couple boardings and roughings were called, but these girls kept at it. Both teams scored on the PP in the opening period, however the Swiss were able to capitalize early into the 2nd period. Japan fought back hard, and even had a PP with under 5 minutes to go in the game, but the Swiss won game 1 of this best of 3 series 2-1. Game #2 will happen Sunday at noon, where Japan will fight to stay alive and the Swiss will look to close it out.
Quarter-Finals
#3 Russia vs #6 Finland
Boy oh boy was this one a dandy! Finland shocked some with a win over Sweden yesterday to secure a spot in the quarters, but the Fins were hoping for a little more than to just "make it" to the medal rounds. And boy to Finland storm out of the gate, scoring 2 goals mere :12 seconds apart to take a 2-0 lead late in the 1st. They then up'd that lead to 3-0 with a goal in the last second of the period!
The Russians aren't ranked #3 in the world for nothing though, and were able to score 1 in the 2nd to be down only 2 heading into the 3rd. The Fins took an early penalty to start the period and the deadly Russian PP capitalized to make it a 3-2 game. You could slowly feel the momentum shifting to the Russians. About 10 minutes left in the game and up 3-2 the Fins were on the PP when they took an unfortunate Holding penalty. At 4 on 4, the Russians were quick to attack and evened up the game a 3-3 with about 8 minutes left in the game. The Russians could smell the blood in the water and the Fins took a timeout to try and settle down.
While it seemed the Fins were doing everything to hold on and force the game to OT, the Russians were sending wave after wave into the Finnish zone looking to end this in regulation. And with 3 seconds left in regulation, the Russians scored to take a 4-3 lead, winning the game in the final seconds and crushing the Finnish dreams for further advancement. The Russians will now play Canada in the first Semi-Final game on Sunday at 3 PM, the Fins will play the loser of the Czech/Sweden game in the 5/6 game.
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#4 Czech v #5 Sweden
A tough match-up that lived up to the billing. Sweden played a very good game, just couldn't come back from the 3-0 lead spotted to the Czechs. The Swedes were given an early 5 on 3 PP for about :30 seconds, but failed to convert on either chance, the Czechs were able to score first, about half way through the first. The Czech's scored two goals early in the second a little less than 2 minutes apart, so team Sweden took a good timeout to settle the girls down. The TO seemed to work as Sweden was able to score on the PP a few minutes later to go into the 3rd period down 3-1.
The 3rd period was just an onslaught by the Swedes. They were able to get a goal about 5 minutes in to cut the lead to 3-2. However the Czech's were able to get another insurance marker roughly 5 minutes later. After a few penalty calls later, the Swedes finally cashed in on one of their 18 shots in the 3rd period, bringing the game back to within 1, down 4-3. After a crazy last 2 minutes, and with the goalie pulled with less than a minute left, Sweden was unable to get the game tieing goal, and fell to the Czech's 4-3. Sweden won the Bronze last year, so it we'll have a new country gaining a medal this year. The Czech's no will face off again with the US in the Sunday night prime-time (7PM) showdown. The Swedes will look to avenge their pool play loss to Finland in the 5/6 match-up and claim the Scandinavian bout.