South Korea threatened an upset of mighty Finland before falling short while Norway snapped an 11-game Olympic losing streak to advance to the Pyeongchang men’s hockey quarter-finals Tuesday along with Germany and the United States.
Finland, medallists in five of the past six Olympics, saw a three-goal lead trimmed to one before escaping with a 5-2 playoff victory over the Olympic hosts to secure a Wednesday quarter-final date with two-time defending champion Canada.
“They played great. I respect that,” said Finland’s Petri Kontiola, who scored twice. “They did a great job.”
After the game, the South Korean team took large flags onto the ice and skated laps around the rink in an emotional tribute to the screaming fans who were giving their winless team a standing ovation.
“I felt so proud with the flags around me,” tearful forward Park Woo-sang said. “We wanted to thank them for all the support.”
Down 3-0, the South Koreans roared back as Canada-born Radunske, the first player without Korean ancestry to play for South Korea after taking citizenship in 2013, scored 10:06 into the second period and Ahn Jin-hui followed only 2:03 later.
“The crowd deserved to see the puck go in the net. They have been behind us the whole way,” said Korean forward Brock Radunske. “That was a little giveback to the fans. They have been with us every step of the way. The support has been unbelievable.”
The Finns thwarted a Korean power play to start the third period, then Juuso Hietanen struck for a power-play goal with 12:40 remaining.
“They were working really hard. It wasn’t an easy game,” Hietanen said. “They should be proud.”
An empty-net goal late by Sakari Manninen doomed the South Korean upset bid.
“I knew it was possible it could turn,” said Finland’s Sami Lepisto. “I wasn’t nervous about the situation but you never know.”
Norway, which had not won since a 1994 11th-place consolation game, edged Slovenia 2-1 on Alexander Bonsaksen’s over-time goal to book a last-eight matchup against the Olympic Athletes from Russia.
“This is historic,” Bonsaksen said. “I’m really happy.”
The US men routed Slovakia 5-1 and will face unbeaten Czech Republic in Wednesday’s quarter-finals while Germany edged Switzerland 2-1 on Yannic Seidenberg’s over-time goal to set a quarter-final against unbeaten Sweden.
Now the Americans, who haven’t won Olympic gold since 1980, face a Czech squad seeking its first Olympic crown in 20 years.
Relishing Their Roles | Youngsters and veterans team up to keep the Olympic dream alive for the U.S. Men’s Team → https://t.co/8rZr7rDvoQ#GoTeamUSA pic.twitter.com/r7lLtx8iwX
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) February 20, 2018
Harvard University star Ryan Donato scored two goals as he did in an earlier win over Slovakia and US goaltender Ryan Zapolski made 22 saves.
Both shined after being flattened in the second period, with Michal Cajkovsky sent off for 25 minutes for a blow to Donato’s head.
“I just dipped my head for a second to look at the puck and looked up and had an elbow in my mouth,” Donato said. “It didn’t feel good.”
At the same moment, Ladislav Nagy was whistled for flattening Zapolski, who was slow to rise off the ice.
“Jammed my neck, pinched my nerves and just kind of lost feeling in my hands and feet for a bit,” Zapolski said. “It was a little bit of a scary thing for me.”
James Wisniewski, whose father Jim was quarantined with the norovirus at the Games, scored on the power play 18 seconds later for a 2-0 US edge and the rout was on.
“It shows how strong and how resilient a team we are,” Zapolski said.
