Finland beats U.S.; Canada, Sweden, Russia advance to semifinals

Sami Lepisto’s goal at 3:59 of overtime led Finland to a 3-2 victory over the United States on Wednesday night in the world hockey quarterfinals.

Lepisto took a pass from Saku Koivu at the point and fired the puck through a crowd and underneath U.S. goalie Robert Esche for the win. Finland advanced to play Russia in the semifinals Friday at Quebec City.

Tuomo Ruutu and Anssi Salmela also scored for Finland, which held a 2-0 lead with less than five minutes remaining in regulation.

The Americans rallied with goals by Phil Kessel and Drew Stafford 37 seconds apart to force overtime. The loss marked the seventh time in the last nine years the U.S. team failed to advance past the quarterfinals.

Kessel broke Niklas Backstrom’s bid for a shutout with 4:16 left in the third when he redirected a point shot by Tim Gleaston into the top corner. Less than a minute later, Stafford broke down the wing shorthanded and fired a shot far side on Backstrom.

Finland had a great opportunity to score the winner in the final three minutes when it went on a power play, including a two-man advantage for 17 seconds, but the Americans were able to kill it and send the game to overtime.

Switzerland put two pucks into its own net in the opening minutes, helping Russia to an easy 6-0 victory in the quarterfinals.

Maxim Afinogenov had two goals for Russia, seeking its first world championship title since 1993. The Russians will play Finland in the semifinals, a rematch of last year when they lost and settled for a bronze medal.

Alexander Semin opened the scoring 1:14 into the game as Alexander Ovechkin screened goalie Martin Gerber.

Then, the costly mistakes came for the Swiss. Afinogenov got credit for a goal when Swiss defenseman Raphael Diaz pushed the puck into his own net with his hand at 2:18. He was in the crease after Afinogenov’s drive to the net and tried to push the puck under Gerber to freeze it.

Danis Zaripov was also given a goal that defenseman Philippe Furrer mistakenly shot into his own net 6:23 in. Furrer was attempting to clear the puck around the boards while killing a penalty, but his blast from the left circle went straight into the net.

A scary moment came with 6:47 left the game, when Russia’s Ilya Kovalchuk took a major penalty and a game misconduct — earning an automatic suspension for the semifinal — after a charge on Julien Vauclair. The Swiss defenseman was down for several minutes and attended to by trainers on the ice before refusing a stretcher and skating off the ice under his own power.

Afinogenov scored his second of the game, and Ovechkin and Sergei Fedorov had goals in the second period to make it 6-0. Evgeni Nabokov made 22 saves for the shutout.

Derek Roy scored three goals and added an assist to help defending champion Canada rout Norway 8-2 in the quarterfinals.

Canada will face Sweden, a 3-2 overtime winner earlier Wednesday in Quebec City, in the semifinals Friday in Quebec City. The Canadians beat the Swedes 4-1 last year in the semifinals in Moscow.

“Once again, they held on tough,” said goalie Cam Ward, who made 22 saves. “Up until the middle of the second period, they gave us a little bit of a scare.”

Coach Ken Hitchcock also admitted to having a few nervous moments during the game.

“When it was 2-2, I was wondering if that ferry had a direct route to Columbus,” the Blue Jackets coach said before boarding a plane to Quebec instead. “The players play and they don’t worry about things. We sweated all day today as a coaching staff. These are defining moments for you as a coach because if you lose this game, you all are writing about us and me tomorrow. And it’s not going to be pleasant.”

Rick Nash added two goals and Dany Heatley, Ryan Getzlaf and Jonathan Toews also scored for Canada in its 16th straight victory in the event. Morten Ask and Mathis Olimb scored for the Norway in its first quarterfinal appearance.

“They knew they were better, they knew they were more talented and they knew if they stayed with it they were going to win,” Hitchcock said.

Toews broke a 2-2 tie on a power play midway through the second period, beating goalie Pal Grotnes with a hard wrist shot. Roy then scored goals 2:42 apart to give Canada a 5-2 lead before the second intermission.

“They got three fast goals there,” Grotnes said. “Then it was over.”

Mattias Weinhandl scored 3:15 into overtime, giving Sweden a victory and a berth in the semifinals. It is the eighth consecutive year Sweden will play in the semifinals.

“We don’t have our best team, but maybe that’s in our favor because we don’t have the pressure with that,” Weinhandl said. “We can just play our game.”

The Czechs had just killed a penalty when Weinhandl slipped a backhand shot in heavy traffic toward the net, where it slid just inside the goal post.

“It hit some skates and sticks and probably hit everything and just went in,” Weinhandl said. “It was a really lucky goal and that’s what we needed.”

Radim Vrbata gave the Czechs a 2-1 lead on a penalty shot 8:19 into the third period after he was tripped on a breakaway. Sweden got it back on a disputed goal by Marcus Nilson with 3:38 remaining, setting up the 10-minute, four-on-four overtime period.

Rickard Wallin backed into Milan Hnilicka and knocked him over, and the Czech goaltender was unable to get up in time to stop Nilson’s shot. The Czechs complained vehemently to the referees to no avail.

“That’s the way to score goals nowadays,” Wallin said. “We have to have someone going at the net. Obviously, he got a little distracted and maybe that’s why he let the puck through. But we talk a lot about going to the net and getting shots through.”

Sweden’s Patric Hornqvist and Czech Tomas Rolinek exchanged goals in the second period.

The Swedes spent much of an uneventful first period killing penalties but managed to get the best chance when Hnilicka robbed Hornqvist from the slot with a quick glove save.

Sweden finally broke through on a power play in the second period, when Hornqvist jumped on Anton Stralman’s rebound, stepped around Hnilicka and slid in his sixth goal of the tournament.

The Czechs tied it on a rush when Rolinek trailed and banged home Ales Kotalik’s rebound past goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

“With the personnel we have, with the situation is the way it is, we have to play a tight game and not let the opponents have big chances,” Sweden coach Bengt Gustafsson said. “And we have to use our good offensive players when the time is there. We’re not going to change anything going into the semifinals.”Here