BEIJING (AP) — Finland erased a three-goal deficit to beat Sweden 4-3 in overtime Sunday, a result that gets each of the archrivals into the quarterfinals of the men’s hockey tournament at the Olympics.
The United States can wrap up the top seed by beating Germany later in the day. That would make Finland the second seed, the Russians third and Sweden fourth in the knockout round.
Sweden and Finland getting to OT means Canada will almost certainly be seeded fifth and need to play in the qualification round Tuesday. Barring an extremely unlikely upset loss to China in the preliminary round finale, the hosts and Canada would face off again two days later.
Finland earned some extra rest with its third-period comeback. Teemu Hartikainen got the Finns on the board early in the third and Iiro Pakarinen scored twice in the final five minutes of regulation. Harri Pesonen scored the winner 2:01 into 3-on-3 OT.
Lucas Wallmark, Lukas Bengtsson and captain Anton Lander scored power-play goals for Sweden, which led 3-0 just past the midway point of the second. Finland outshot Sweden 16-3 after the second intermission.
Finland played most of the game without former NHL forward Markus Granlund, who was ejected for a match penalty for an illegal check to the head of Sweden defenseman Philip Holm and could be facing a suspension.