Olympic Hockey Results 2022: Men’s, Women’s Wednesday Scores, Highlights

Finland hockey had a monumental Wednesday at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The women’s team beat Switzerland 4-0 in the bronze-medal game. This marks the second consecutive third-place finish at the Olympics for the Finnish women’s squad. 

Earlier in the day, the men’s team clinched a berth in the semifinal with a 5-1 victory over Switzerland. After finishing sixth at the Pyeongchang Games in South Korea four years ago, they are assured of competing for a medal this year. 

On the other side of the spectrum in the men’s tournament, Team USA and Canada will leave Beijing empty-handed. 

After earning the No. 1 overall seed with a dominant performance in the group stage, the Americans suffered a 3-2 shootout loss to Slovakia in the quarterfinals. 

Lucas Wallmark’s goal midway through the third period opened the scoring for Sweden before Anton Lander sealed a 2-0 win over Canada. 

Women’s Results 

Bronze-Medal Game: Finland 4, Switzerland 0

Men’s Quarterfinal Results 

Slovakia 3, United States 2 (Shootout)

Finland 5, Switzerland 1

Russian Olympic Committee 3, Denmark 1

Sweden 2, Canada 0

Recap

Finland’s defense stepped up in the women’s victory over Switzerland. Viivi Vainikka gave her team a 1-0 lead in the first period. 

That score would stand until the third period, when Susanna Tapani was able to double it with a shorthanded goal early in the frame. 

Nelli Laitinen and Michelle Karvinen each scored a power-play goal in the final 10 minutes to turn a tense battle into an easy win for Finland. 

Switzerland goalie Andrea Brandli was under siege throughout the game. Finland got off 47 shots against her, compared to just 15 for Switzerland. 

Team USA’s men’s representatives picked an inopportune time to play its worst game of the tournament. The Americans had a 2-1 advantage after Sam Hentges’ goal midway through the second period. 

That lead held until there was 44 seconds left in regulation, with Marek Hrivik putting a rebound shot past Strauss Mann. 

Goals proved difficult to come by after that point. After a scoreless overtime period, the U.S. and Slovakia went to a shootout. 

The first seven combined shot attempts by both teams were unsuccessful before Peter Cehlarik finally broke through. 

Andy Miele was the United States’ final hope, but his shot attempt was saved by Patrik Rybar to seal the win for Slovakia. 

Canada finished an inconsistent tournament with a poor performance in a 2-0 loss to Sweden. The defense did a good job most of the game, including killing all three power-play chances for Sweden. 

Wallmark and Lander scored two goals in the third period to send Sweden into the semifinals. Lars Johansson recorded his first shutout of the tournament with 22 saves. 

This will mark the first Olympic tournament since 2006 that won’t feature Canada or the United States competing for a men’s hockey medal. 

Finland and the Russian Olympic Committee continued to roll in these Olympics. Finland had no problems in a 5-1 win over Switzerland. Miro Aaltonen and Mikko Lehtonen scored goals within the first 11 minutes of the opening period. 

Marko Anttila added a goal in the second period to put Finland up 3-0. Iiro Pakarinen and Teemu Hartikainen contributed single goals in the third. Andres Ambuhl’s power-play goal in the second period got Switzerland on the board. 

Harri Sateri stopped 33 of 34 shots Switzerland managed against him in the win.

The Russian Olympic Committee beat Denmark for the second time in five days—they first met in group play, with the Russians earning a 2-0 win. 

With the stakes higher this time around, the Russian Olympic Committee got a 3-1 win over Denmark to reach the semifinals. The score was tied at one early in the second period thanks to goals from Vadim Shipachyov and Frans Nielsen. 

Nikita Nesterov put the Russians on top for good with 5:24 remaining in the second period. Vyacheslav Voinov’s power-play goal in the third period sealed the victory. 

Denmark only managed to get 18 shots off against the Russian defense. 

The Russian Olympic Committee is two wins away from winning its second consecutive gold medal. They will have to get past Sweden in the semifinal on Friday at 8:10 a.m. ET. 

Finland and Slovakia will square off in the other semifinal. It will be played at 11:10 p.m. ET on Thursday.